


For the Love of Swan

by Carlet



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-01-14 12:31:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 47,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1266688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carlet/pseuds/Carlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She was without oxygen for six minutes. So there's a chance Emma won't wake up." When Emma is shot, all she knows and loves is now all a blur. But will the love she and Hook once shared be enough to bring everything back? Or will this be end to their happy ending?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: A twist on the whole memory loss thing, takes place after Neverland. Special thanks to the amazing MonkeyLovr for all her help.
> 
> Disclaimer: As usual I don't own anything.

Chapter 1

Three am was an oddly quiet hour in the normally busy building that consisted of Storybrooke's hospital. There was nothing to do, nothing to distract himself with other than the cup of oily coffee he'd procured from the vending machine not far from where he currently paced. Idly, he considered topping off the dark beverage with a few drops from his flask, but drinking in this situation didn't sit right with him. He swirled his cup, trying to focus on something other than the events of the past several hours.

Outside the dirty window, the town was dark. All he could see was numerous dark houses that unquestionably consisted of sleeping bodies, cuddled in their beds at home with their loved ones. Several hours ago, that had been her.

"Hook!" Came a loud, frantic voice from the other end of the hallway.

Hook looked up sharply at the sound of his name to see Mary Margaret and David rushing breathlessly down the hall towards him, where he sat, eyes glued to the doors behind which Emma had disappeared into several hours ago.

As expected, they were full of nothing but questions.

"What happened?!" David demanded, hands already curled into fists. Although he and Hook had formed a tenuous friendship in Neverland, the fact that he'd gone immediately into protective father mode showed that their friendship could vanish in a split second.

Not that Hook could blame him; the mere thought of someone harming little Ava made his heart start to pound with anger. For a second he wished his daughter was here with him, in his arms, but the events of the day told him just how inept he was at protecting his loved ones.

It was better that Ava was safely with Granny and Ruby.

"I..." Hook began heavily, but found that he could not continue. Not without violently dispelling the contents of his stomach onto the waxy floors. "There was an intruder…" He said vaguely, but did not elaborate. "I'm not entirely sure myself, mate."

But he knew that this is a lie.

"You were the only one with her! You're telling me that you have no idea why my daughter is in there, fighting for her life right now?!" David cried, gesturing wildly. He was leaning into Hook, who could feel the man's breath on his face.

"Aye." Slowly, Hook backed up. "I don't know much more than you…"

Lie.

David looked as though he was about to say something more, maybe sink his fist deep into the pirate's stomach, but thought better of it and sank heavily into a chair.

"How long has she been in there for?" Mary Margaret asked. Unsurprisingly, her eyes were full of unshed tears.

That, at least, was a question he could answer. "A couple hours."

A couple hours soon became several, which quickly increased until Hook stopped counting. The sun came up, the orange light cutting across the sky. All around town, people were waking up, making coffee, looking forward to another day. All except her.

The only saving grace was that Henry was at Regina's for the night. Hook had no idea what he would've done if the kid had been present.

The stark white of the floors burned his eyes. He'd been staring for too long at the too clean floors, breathing in the horrible antiseptic smell of the building. But it was an improvement over staring at the door, willing it to open with good news.

Around five, Mary Margaret got up to buy coffee. Hook remained motionless, glued to the sticky plastic chair. About an hour later, David went down to buy some breakfast, although none of them were very hungry. Hook still remained motionless, glued to the sticky plastic chair. Having someone to yell at would take away, at least temporarily, some of the guilt building up inside. Sitting around helplessly was not very desirable, but he forced himself to remain in the chair, hand smoothing against the sharp metal hook.

There was a prod to his side. "Hook?"

He jerked his head up to find Mary Margaret's concerned face staring down at him. "You should go get some food or something."

"I'm fine." He curtly brushed her off, and then immediately felt bad. "It's not me you should be worrying about."

Mary Margaret smiled sadly. "Blame the mother instinct. Who else do I have to care for right now?" Her gaze dropped down to his hands, which were knotted tightly together, and her face hardened. She turned away, burying her face in her husband's shoulder. Seconds later, the hall was full of sobs once more.

Without looking down, Hook knew immediately what had set Mary Margaret off. Blood. The blood that was still smeared around his finger tips, no matter how hard he'd scrubbed. The warm, sticky blood that had stained their white carpet a dark crimson color, coated his hands, and slowly seeped out of her as she lay gasping for breath in his arms.

Hours passed by in a blur. People passed by, faceless figures in the daze that Hook was in. He was exhausted, but the many cups of coffee pumped through his system with every heartbeat, forcing him to remain awake. He vaguely wondered what the others were in for, selfishly believing that none of their situations were as dire as hers. As the most well known couple in Storybrooke, naturally David and Mary Margaret attracted lots of questions. None that they could answer without bursting into tears or fists curling or faces hardening.

Around nine, the doors finally opened. A blond man came out, white coat splattered with red. Hook tried not to look at the dark color staining the bright white fabric, swallowing back the bile that burned the back of his throat.

Much like when they'd arrived at the hospital, Mary Margaret and David were full of questions.

"Dr. Whale. How is she?" Mary Margaret asked.

Hook could immediately see that there was no point in asking. Whale's face was drawn in a way that had nothing to do with fatigue. He refrained from saying so, though, knowing full well that hope was the most important thing one could possess.

"She's out of surgery." He began. "You should sit." He gestured to the plastic chairs that they'd been occupying for the last hours.

"We've sat enough. How is my daughter?" Mary Margaret demanded.

"As you may know, she received a gunshot wound to the chest. She coded about five minutes after she was brought into the ER." Whale began. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking down.

"What the bloody hell does coded mean?" Hook cut in.

"It means her heart stopped. We were able to revive it before bringing her in for surgery. She was lucky enough that the bullet just nicked the artery. However…" He stopped, signing in such a way that seemed to cause his entire body to deflate.

"However what?" David growled. "This is my daughter's life we're talking about, Whale."

"She was without oxygen for six minutes. So there's a chance Emma won't wake up."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Nine hours earlier_

_There was a creak. Not too loud to cause alarm, but just loud enough that his eyes flew open._

_“Emma.” He reached across the bed to poke her side. “Wake up.”_

_“Mmm…” She rolls over so that she’s facing him. “Sleeping.”_

_“Wake up.”  He repeated, tickling her side until her eyes open, blinking up at him in the darkness. “I heard something.” He propped himself up on one elbow, staring down at her._

_“Probably just someone outside.” She replied sleepily. “Go back to sleep, Hook.”_

_Hook tried to shake the weird feeling building up inside as he lay back down on the cool pillow. She’s had more experience in this world than him. If she said there’s nothing to worry about, there probably isn’t._

_But a second creak, quickly followed by another, caused her to sit up in bed, the covers a tangled mess around her. “Was that just me, or did you hear it too?”_

_“Not just you, love.”  Hook responded, half relieved that he hadn’t been overly paranoid._

_Another loud creak._

_In the dark, Hook could see her face screw up in concentration. “I think that’s coming from the kitchen.”_

_He reached over to turn on a lamp, but a hand on his wrist stopped him. “Don’t.” She hissed. “The last thing we want to do is to draw attention to ourselves.”_

_“Well what do you suggest we do then?” He asked, slightly annoyed. “Just sit here and let the thief rob us?”_

_“Hell no.” Emma responded. In a fluid motion, she silently swings her legs over the side of the bed and slips her feet into a heavy pair of boots. “We sneak up on them.” She rifled around and comes up with her gun. She tiptoed to the door, hand curling around the doorknob._

_“Wait.” He said, seconds before she could open the door. “What’re you doing?”_

_“What does it look like? Stopping the thief.”  Impatience flashed across her face._

_“But…” He didn’t know exactly how to phrase his thoughts. “Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” He finally settled on._

_Emma laughed quietly. Even in the dark, he could see the mirth flashing across her face. “Don’t be ridiculous, Hook. This is Storybrooke we’re talking about. There’s no one dangerous.”_

* * *

“No.” Mary Margaret shook her head. “No. You don’t know what you’re saying. No.”

“I’m sorry.” Whale sighed.

Mary Margaret dissolved into sobs, burying her head in her husband’s shoulder, as David looked as though he was about to empty the contents of his stomach over the too clean, antiseptic floor.

“Thank you.” David managed to say.

Whale nodded. “You may go see her if you like.” And then he disappeared down the hall, shiny shoes squeaking on the floor.

* * *

“There’s a chance Emma won’t wake up.” Those words rang over and over in Hook’s mind until he could neither see nor hear anything else.

His legs propelled him down the hall. He had no idea where he was going, just that he had to get away. A scream was building up in the back of his throat, bubbling up, a scream that he was dying to release.

Won’t wake up.

Won’t wake up.

Won’t wake up.

His fault. This all his fault. Before he can stop himself, all of the horror, anger, rage, grief, and guilt is just too much, and it bubbles over the top, the result of which is his fist sinking deep into the wall, creating a large crater that cannot be fixed. There is a horrible, shrill, animalistic sound echoing around him.

A split second later, he realized that it had been him.

* * *

_Out of the corner of his eye, Hook watched as Neal approached Emma, boyish hope written all over his face as he clumsily attempted to ask out the woman he’d wronged in so many ways, yet still had the audacity to try and win back._

_It wasn’t entirely a selfless act, of course. The pirate inside him was certain that Neal would fail, allowing Hook to swoop in and win her heart. He’d made certain inroads in Neverland, and with the right push he’d succeed._

_For a second, hot jealousy ripped through him as he wondered if he’d been right in allowing Neal a chance with Emma. It had been the right thing to do, something that his dearly departed brother would surely be proud of him for, but watching them together caused something to claw through him._

_For the lad. Hook reminded himself. You’re doing this for the lad. He snuck a look at Henry, who was engrossed with the large book of fairytales Emma had just handed him. After everything the boy had been through in Neverland, the least Hook could do was allow him a chance to have his family together._

_His heart leaped involuntarily as he detected the familiar closed off feeling in her eyes. Despite the small smile on her face, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would not be showing up to lunch at Granny’s tomorrow._

_A slow smile spread across his face. Soon he would have his swan._

* * *

David caught up to Hook, who was doubled up, his injured fist curled up against the soft fabric of his coat, a string of creative curses streaming out from his mouth, intermixed with groans of pain and raw emotion.

“Hook!” David gripped the pirate firmly, hoisting him up onto his feet. Hook’s face is scrunched up tightly, a stark red color.

Hook only groans in response. He was muttering something incoherent, something that David strained to hear but could not decipher. All around them, people are openly staring and muttering to themselves, and it was only David’s status as deputy that kept them at bay.

“Pull yourself together.” David hissed. “You don’t need security dragging you away.”

“Don’t...care.” More incoherent muttering.

“I know you’re upset.” David attempted to get through to him. “But if you don’t knock it off they’re gonna kick you out. Or I'll be forced to arrest you. You’re not gonna be able to see Emma.”

At the sound of her name, he collapsed heavily, hitting the ground before David could keep him up any further.

"My fault." Hook moaned as he curled in the fetal position on the hard floor. "All my fault."

"What do you mean its your fault?" Mary Margaret, who had just approached, asked curiously.

Slowly, Hook sat up, back against the wall, his body sagging as though the wall behind him was the only thing keeping him upright. "I had the ability to stop all of this from happening, milady. But I didn't. And now Emma's in there." He gestured harshly with his hook. "Fighting for her life. And I caused it."

"That's not true!" Mary Margaret protested immediately. "I was just talking to the nurses earlier and from what they said you saved her life. They said if you'd brought her in even a minute later she would've died."

Beside her, David nodded vehemently. "You saved her life. This is not your fault." With one hand, he hoisted Hook off the floor once more. "C'mon. Whale said we can go see her now."

Hook followed them down the hall, dread pumping through him with every step of the way. Though he knew that Mary Margaret and David had been wrong, that it had in fact been his fault and his fault alone, he did not bother to correct them as he trudged along after them.

As selfish as it was, if they knew the truth they would not allow him anywhere near Henry and Ava. And aside from Emma they were all he had.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

She was pale. Not to say that she was known for her golden tan, but she was too pale even by her standards. If it wasn't for the constantly beeping heart monitor, it would almost be as though she was merely sleeping.

As Hook sat in the chair, one of her cold hands clutched between his, he was struck by a memory of himself lying in a similar bed in a similar room, Emma leaning over him, uttering threats barely disguised by that cheeky smile of hers. He remembered snarking back at her as he fought against the restraints holding him down. Even then he'd found her charming. Oh, how he wished they could go back to that day.

Mary Margaret and David had gone in first, leaving Hook to relay the events of the past twelve hours to Henry in a low, hollowed, detached voice. The high pitched notes and wavers in the kid's voice was evident of his devastating reaction. Hook couldn't do much more than say that he could go see his mother if he pleased. And then Henry had been too overcome with emotion to continue speaking on the phone any longer, and Regina had picked it up, saying in a crisp voice that she'd bring Henry over in several hours.

The chair was pressed up against the bed as close as possible. There wasn't much he could say; instead, he settled for gripping her hand tightly, burying his face in the rough fabric of the blanket covering her, hoping desperately that he could convey all of his jumbled feelings through his touch. His shoulders began to shake as the tears he'd been holding back for so long finally came.

"Emma, love." He choked, voice muffled by the thick fabric. "I'm so, so sorry…"

* * *

_Eye pressed to the spyglass, smooth metal worn by many years of use, Hook spied Emma, sitting alone on a large rock by the water, long hair blowing violently in the wind. In the distance, the clock struck twelve. Noon._

_Just as he'd expected, Emma was not planning to show up to her lunch date with Neal._

_He closed the spyglass, stowing it in one of the many pockets in his large leather coat. From where he stood on the deck, she wore a conflicted look. Well, if he had anything to do with it, that look would soon be replaced by one of rapt desire for him. Stifling a cheeky grin, he headed down the gangplank of his ship and straight towards her._

_Her posture was rigid and her fingers tapped repeatedly on the rock beside her. She looked up as he approached, her expression one of surprise. "Hook?"_

" _Rather nice day isn't it?" He commented, maneuvering over the jagged rock covered ground._

" _What are you doing here?"_

" _Why, as I said, it's a rather nice day. Just here enjoying the weather." He answered._

_She stared suspiciously at him. "Really."_

" _Really." He sat down on the rock beside her and flashed her a wide smile. Uncapping the flask with his hand, he held it out to her. "Rum?"_

_She rolled her eyes; nonetheless she grabbed it and took a large swig. "Thanks."_

" _Question is, love," He took the flask back and pressed it to his lips, trying to ignore the fact that he was touching where her lips had been just moments ago. "What are you doing here? I know we didn't fight so hard back in that cursed land for you to be sitting out here alone. Shouldn't you be with your family?"_

_Emma shrugged but did not respond._

_Alright, enough beating around the bush. "Aren't you supposed to be at Granny's with Neal?"_

_She blinked at him. "How did you know? Were you eavesdropping?"_

" _I was doing no such thing!" Hook said, visibly affronted. "I just happen to excel at listening in to other people's conversations. Amongst…" He gave her the once over, pressing a finger to his lips. "Other things."_

_Emma rolled her eyes. "That's called eavesdropping, buddy." She snatched the flask out of his hand again and took another sip._

" _Hey, that's mine." He made a swipe for it. "And you didn't answer my question, love. Why are you sitting out here with a pirate with a drinking problem, lovely weather aside, when you should be with the father of your lad? I know I'm devilishly handsome and all, but lunch with Neal should be much more appealing than sitting here alone."_

" _Devilishly handsome, huh?" She said wryly. "You certainly think highly of yourself." She grabbed the flask once more._

_Yet again she'd dodged his question. As much as he was dying to know why she was avoiding Neal (not that he didn't already have a hunch) he wasn't going to push it. They sat in a companionable silence for several moments, hair blowing in the wind as they looked out at the beach._

_And then Emma spoke up. "I don't think I'm ready." She admitted._

_Hook looked over at her. "And why's that?"_

_She shrugged. "Dunno."_

" _Well, I think I know why."_

" _Do you, now?" She raised an eyebrow._

" _He broke your heart." Hook answered simply. "And no matter how hard he tries, he will never be able to make up for it."_

_One look at her and he knew he was spot on correct. Her nails were digging into the palms of her hands as a small, lone tear made its way out of the corner of her eye._

" _Is that selfish of me?" She muttered. "He just wants to give Henry a complete family, and here I am, preventing it from ever happening."_

" _Of course not." Hook protested immediately. Acting purely on instinct, he reached out with his hook, turning her head to face him. His thumb reached out to wipe away her tears. "It's not selfish if you can't forgive him for wronging you in so many ways."_

" _But Mary Margaret and David have done the same. And I've forgiven them!" She argued. "But despite the fact that I still love him, I just can't seem to let everything that happened with Neal go."_

_He bristled at the thought that she still loved the dark one's spawn. "That's perfectly natural." Hook responded. "There are some things we will never be able to let go. For me, it's the death of Milah." He gulped at the sound of her name, the familiar hollow ache spreading throughout inside. But ever since Neverland, the ache had been less painful. "And for you, it's your history with him."_

" _But what about Henry?"_

" _Your lad will be fine. He has three parents who love him, not to mention grandparents and probably the whole rest of this bloody town. He is as irresistible as his mother." Hook couldn't resist throwing in._

" _I guess." Emma still looked unconvinced, completely ignoring his little comment at the end.._

" _I know you just want to do what's best for your son, but if what's best will make you unhappy, then perhaps it's not the best. Henry wouldn't want you to be unhappy."_

_A half smile crept over her face. "How do I know you're not just saying all of this for your own little reasons?"_

" _What reasons?" He asked, mock surprised._

_She gave him a hard look. "You know what I mean."_

" _Well then, love." He stood up. He'd already made significant inroads today and now it was time to go. "I guess you'll just have to see._

* * *

The loud blare of a siren caused Hook to sit up, startled, nearly disturbing the many tubes and wires sticking out of her. He could hear distinct voices coming from the background.

"Male, 35, wounds to the shoulder and head." A voice said. "Found him behind some bushes. Looks as though he was passed out there for several hours until a civilian found him and called 911."

"Get him stabilized." Whale ordered. There were sounds of something being wheeled down the hall towards him. There was a sharp sound as a curtain was drawn around the new patient.

"...'s goin on?" A groggy male voice asked. "Where am I?"

At the sound of the voice, Hook stopped short. No.

"Youre in the hospital, sir." A crisp female voice responded. A nurse, Hook presumed. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Uhhh…" The man muttered. "Attacked."

And then Hook saw red as he bolted out of Emma's room and into the curtained off area where the man was being treated. Before the nurses could stop him, he charged straight for the man lying in the gurney, his hand finding his way around the man's throat, wishing with all his heart that he had both hands.

The better to strangle the man with.

"Attacked?!" Hook spat. "You weren't attacked and you know that, you lying son of a bitch."

Behind him, he could hear nurses screaming for security, but Hook ignored all of them as he concentrated on choking the life out of the man.

"Get..off...me!" The man wheezed. He had a cut on his head and bloody gauze on his shoulder, but his injuries were trivial compared to hers. Nothing, even.

"Not until you pay for what you did." Hook snarled. The man was growing ashen and his eyes were closing; it was evident that he was about to pass out, when someone seized Hook from behind and forcibly dragged him backwards.

"Your wife deserved what she got." The man grinned maniacally as Hook was being dragged away. "I hope she dies."

Hook fought against the burly security guards, yelling obscenities at the man as he found himself traveling down the hallway and into the waiting area. One of the security guards went over to speak to David, who eyed Hook with a mixture of disappointment and disdain.

"This is a warning, sir." One of the security guards said. "You're lucky that the deputy is letting it slide. But attack a patient again and we will be forced to ban you from the grounds."

Hook just spat angrily as he was released, saying nothing.

"What the hell was that?" David crossed his arms. "Attacking another patient?"

"You don't understand." Hook began pacing around the room. "You don't know who he is, what he's done."

"Doesn't matter." David sighed. "Look, I get that you're upset. I really do. But you can't go attacking other patients. I'm serious. If this happens again you won't be able to see Emma." He said firmly.

"I don't care." Hook replied darkly. "That's a fair price to pay if it guarantees his death.

David rubbed the back of his neck. "What's so important about this man? Whatever it is, it can wait."

"No, it can't."

"Why?"

"Because he's the one who shot Emma."

 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

" _Don't be ridiculous, Hook. This is Storybrooke we're talking about. There's no one dangerous."_

" _Wait." Hook said. He couldn't explain it, but there a foreboding feeling of dread building up inside. The only other time he'd had this feeling was right before Rumplestilskin had showed up in his life for the second time. Milah had laughed it away, but look at what had happened._

" _What?" Annoyance flashed across her face as she was stopped for the second time. "What is it?"_

" _I don't think it's such a good idea for you to go out there alone." Hook said apprehensively. "At least let me come with you."_

_Emma rolled her eyes, visibly bristling. "I can take care of myself."_

" _That's not what I mean. I just...I don't have a good feeling about this."_

_Her face hardened. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm the sheriff. I don't need anyone protecting me." And then she was gone, slipping out the door, silent as a ghost._

_Hook sat back on the bed. If only she wasn't so maddeningly independant. He knew that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but there was that feeling._

_Still. Maybe Emma was right. She was the one with more experience in this world, and if she said it was fine, then it probably was fine._

_Right?_

_He waited, straining to listen for anything. Fortunately, Ava was spending the night at her grandparent's and Henry was at Regina's. Who knew what the intruder wanted?_

_Hook could feel his heart pounding with anticipation. He could hear nothing except for the loud, steady beats of his heart. Nothing. There were no sounds coming from the rest of the house. Absolutely nothing. Was that normal?_

_And then...a soft, girlish gasp. And the unmistakable click of a gun._

_Without thinking, Hook immediately dashed out of the room. The gasp had been Emma's, he was certain of it. She was in trouble. His loud, heavy footsteps thumped down the hallway._

" _Drop the gun." Hook heard Emma say firmly._

" _Come and make me, sheriff." A harsh male voice hissed._

_Hook could see a light emanating from somewhere in the house, illuminating two figures. A pajama clad blonde and a tall, heavyset man._

_Both held guns, aimed straight at each other._

" _What the bloody hell is going on?" Hook stepped into the living room._

_A slow, sickly smile spread across the man's face. "Ah, Killian Jones." He spat. "Come, join the party."_

_Hook blinked. "Who the hell are you?"_

" _What?" The man snarled. "Don't recognize me?"_

_Hook shrugged casually, hoping to hide his quaking nerves. He eyed the gun; having used it before he knew of it's devastating effects. "Can't say that I do."_

" _Many years ago, back in our land. The Brookside Tavern. You stole my wife."_

" _I've stolen many a woman, mate. Just the life of a pirate. I'm afraid you're going to have to be a bit more specific." He drawled, silently hoping to distract the man enough to tackle him. He widened his eyes at Emma, trying to tell her to leave the room, but she shook her head wildly._

" _No. I'm not leaving you." She hissed stubbornly._

_The man was still talking. "Tall. Blonde. Looks a hell of a lot like her." The man gestured roughly at Emma, who still held her gun steady, aimed at the man's head._

" _Oh!" Hook snapped his fingers, trying to hide his frustration. "I remember her."_

" _You do now, don't you? You stole my wife from me, drove my family into ruin, and yet you show no remorse."_

" _I think you drove yourself into ruin." Hook commented; the air smelled of booze and it was clear that this man was wasted._

" _You think you're so funny, don't you?" The man said, circling around the living room. The gun now dangled loosely by his side, and Hook began silently calculating how long it would take for him to tackle the man and take his gun. He turned back swiftly, sending a fleeting look into Emma's eyes, silently communicating to be ready to overpower the intruder. She gave a tiny nod._

" _I do, actually." Hook responded._

" _You sick bastard." In a fluid motion, the man stepped forward and seized Hook by his collar._

" _If you're hoping to offend me, you're going to have to do better than that."_

" _Oh, I will." The man responded. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did. I'm going to take away everything that you hold dear." He released Hook and turned towards Emma, aiming the gun at her._

" _Over my dead body." Hook stepped automatically in front of her._

_The man shrugged. "Well, if that's what it takes."_

_Three things happened simultaneously._

_The man pulled his trigger, sending a bullet flying towards Hook's head._

_Emma ducked around Hook, sending a bullet at the man._

_And she shoved Hook aside, bearing the full brunt of the man's actions._

* * *

"So let me get this straight." David said. "You slept with his wife and he came back for revenge."

"Aye." Hook responded wearily.

"I can't believe this." David shook his head. "My daughter is lying in there and she might not wake all because you decided to steal someone's wife!"

"Aye."

"This is all your fault." David lunged at Hook, grabbing him by the collar much like the man had done. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted you. Pirate."

"David, enough." Mary Margaret gripped her husband's sleeve firmly. "This is not Hook's fault. He can't be held responsible for something that happened so long ago. He couldn't have known what would happen."

"But it is my fault." Hook slumped. "The bullet had been meant for me. She pushed me aside. I should be the one lying in there right now!" He said roughly.

"Agreed." David shot back.

Mary Margaret rolled her eyes, placing a gentle hand on Hook's shoulder. "This is not your fault." She said firmly.

But Hook knew that regardless of what she said, it was his fault.

* * *

_It was amazing how much paperwork there was to catch up on from their time in Neverland. It was as if people thought that once the sheriff, deputy, and mayor were gone they were free to wreak havoc on the town. In the little over a week they were in that cursed land. Freaking unbelievable._

_So Emma and David spent most of their day catching up on paperwork, something neither of them particularly enjoyed doing. Due to the little concentration it required, it gave Emma's mind plenty of time to wander._

_True to his word, Neal was leaving her alone after she'd blown off their lunch date yesterday. It saddened her to think of him alone, gazing out the window in hopes that she'd show up. It was rather cruel, yes; she'd had every intention of showing up to at least give him a chance. He'd been so earnest in Neverland and she truly wanted to give Henry a complete family. But as the clock ticked closer to noon, she just...couldn't. The very idea made her hyperventilate._

_Maybe it was for the best that she hadn't shown up. This had probably been her mind's way of telling her that things with Neal were over. That it would be for the best to just let it go. Hook had a point when he said that Henry wouldn't want her to be unhappy, and if she forced herself to be Neal she'd probably just be miserable._

_That led her to the next thing. Hook. He'd been a surprisingly good listener on the beach. However, she couldn't help but think that maybe he had an ulterior motive. He'd made his feelings for her clear in Neverland. Maybe he was just acting on them now._

_Ugh. This is why she steered clear from men. They were good for nothing except for a way to take her mind off of things. Emma Swan did not do relationships._

_Then why did her mind keep wandering to Hook?_

_Around five, Emma and David decided to call it a day and head back to the apartment. They'd gotten most of the paperwork done and both were showing signs of edginess and irritation. It seemed as though father and daughter were more similar than they'd realized._

" _God. I'm starving." Emma commented as she dug around in her ridiculously disorganized bag for her keys._

" _To no one's surprise." David chuckled. "You're always hungry." He sidestepped her and shoved his own key in the lock. "By the time you find yours it'll be time for bed."_

" _Funny." Emma quipped. They pushed open the door, sniffing at the delicious aroma. "Mmm. Spaghetti night." She threw her coat over the back of the couch. And then stopped, causing David to walk right into her._

" _Hook?"_

_Sure enough the pirate was standing at the counter next to Mary Margaret, mixing salad in a round bowl as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Henry was seated at the kitchen table, playing a handheld video game._

" _What are you doing here?" She asked._

" _What does it look like?" He responded, holding up a wooden spoon. "Helping prepare a delicious meal."_

" _Yes, I know." Emma snapped. "But what are you doing here?"_

" _I invited him." Mary Margaret responded from the stove, where she was mixing a large pot of what Emma took to be spaghetti sauce._

" _What?" Emma and David said at the same time._

" _I'm offended." Hook commented. "I thought I was growing on you."_

_They ignored him._

" _He looked so lonely and we have so much food." Mary Margaret responded. "Poor thing hasn't had a home cooked meal in years."_

_Emma squinted suspiciously at her mother. She could swear there was a playful glint in the woman's eyes. "So?"_

" _He helped us so much in Neverland the least we could do is feed him dinner." Mary Margaret said._

" _Plus he tells good stories." Henry piped up cheerily. He wore the same amused expression as Mary Margaret._

" _It's just dinner, Emma." David added._

" _What?" She wheeled around and gaped at her father. "You're ok with this?"_

_David shrugged innocently. "Sure."_

" _Don't worry. You'll find that I make quite the lovely company." Hook quipped._

_Outnumbered. She was hopelessly outnumbered. "Whatever." Emma said, uncharacteristically flustered. She grabbed a pile of silverware out of the drawer. Dinner with Captain Innuendo was not going to be pleasant._

_But despite her earlier reservations, dinner was admittedly not so bad. As Henry had said, Hook did have plenty of pretty entertaining stories, stories that they were all soon laughing at. Maybe it was the wine talking, but overall it was actually...kind of fun._

_Henry had brought up the topic of the original Captain Hook, so naturally after dinner they had to watch Peter Pan._

" _I bet this Captain Hook doesn't do me justice." Hook said as he settled on the couch._

" _Oh, it doesn't." Emma said dryly as she brought over a large bowl of popcorn. Uh oh. The only free seat was the one right next to Hook. He must've known this, for he looked up and smirked at her._

" _I don't bite." He said._

" _Sure." Emma replied, squeezing herself onto the square of cushion. She pressed herself as far against the armrest as possible, trying to ignore the fact that they were about a millimeter apart. She tried to focus on the movie and the fact that soon Hook's little smirk would be gone._

_A little while later, the first complaint was heard. Rather loudly too. "BLOODY HELL!" He shouted. "Is that...me?"_

" _Yep!" Henry said cheerily. "That's you."_

" _You have got to be kidding me." A look of barely disguised horror crossed his face as he watched his Disney counterpart strut about on the screen. "That's not me. I refuse to believe it. No." He shook his head stubbornly._

" _Oh, that's you all right." Emma chuckled. "Waxed mustache, perm, and all."_

_As the movie went on, Hook grew more and more enraged. "Crocodile? He's an actual bloody crocodile? And me? Afraid of him? Never!"_

_Emma gradually became aware of the fact that they were sitting closer and closer. She could practically feel the warmth radiating off him and it seemed as though he was scooting closer and closer towards her, something that she decided was due to the small couch._

" _That was rather entertaining." David said, standing up to stretch once the movie was over._

_Mary Margaret reached over to grab the empty bowl of popcorn, spying the clock as she did so. "Wow it's pretty late. Bedtime, Henry."_

" _Alright." The kid pouted as he scooted off the couch. "Good night."_

" _Well, I give you my utmost gratitude for dinner." Hook said, standing up as well. "Movie aside, it was a rather pleasant evening. I should be heading back to the ship now."_

" _I'll drive you." Emma blurted, surprising even herself as everyone turned to look at her. "What?" She said defensively. She could feel her cheeks growing hot. "It's late."_

_Mercifully, he remained silent until they reached the docks where his ship was. "Quite the vessel you captain there, Swan." Hook commented as he opened the door and stepped outside._

" _Thanks." Emma responded, exiting the car as well._

" _I told you love," He crossed over to her side. "I make good company."_

" _You planned it, didn't you?" She realized. "To be invited over for dinner."_

" _If by planned you mean just happening to show up where I knew your mother would be buying food, then yes I most certainly did."_

" _Wow. That desperate for Mary Margaret's spaghetti?"_

" _Among other things." He licked his lips lasciviously, giving her a quick once over._

_Before she knew what was happening, his face was suddenly close to hers. Too close. He was leaning closer and closer, and his lips would've touched down upon hers if she hadn't turned her face away a the last minute._

" _Hook…" She sighed. "I can't. I'm sorry." She was startled to find that she actually meant it._

" _You did before. And as I recall you were quite into it."_

" _That's different. That was before...well everything that happened._

" _You mean realizing how I felt about you." Hook confirmed. "Emma, love. You've had your heart broken more times than I care to count. You've known nothing except people leaving you. But what you don't know is that I'm in it for the long haul. "_

_She said nothing, staring up at him with those wide eyes of hers._

" _I will fight against your walls until they are reduced to dust. No matter what you do to repel me, I will still be here. I will do whatever it takes to win your heart."_

" _Why?"_

" _Because." He stepped closer once more, sensing that her defenses were down, at least momentarily. "I love you."_

_The air between them was charged, and as Emma stared at him, her eyes lingering on his lips, she remembered the feeling of those lips against hers. And how good it'd felt and how hard she'd had to force herself to push him away._

_Hadn't he risked his life to save Henry? Hadn't he proved time and time again that he was more than just a pirate? Hadn't he proved himself worthy?_

_Maybe it was time to take a chance._

_And surprising herself for the third time that night, she stood up on tiptoes and kissed him._

* * *

Nighttime came and Hook found himself once again at her bedside, her hand clutched in his as he silently willed her to wake. _Please, Emma. Please wake up. If not for me, for Ava and Henry. They need you. I need you._

Soon it would be twenty four hours after she was out of surgery. Twenty four hours that she hadn't awoken. With every passing second, the chance that she would wake grew more and more slim.

Hook rested his head against the cool cotton of her pillow, the top of his head coming into contact with the soft strands of her hair. His body was beyond exhausted but his mind was racing; there would be no sleep until Emma woke up.

Behind him, Mary Margaret and David snoozed lightly in matching armchairs, hands still clutched tightly together. Visiting hours had come and gone, but no one had the heart to kick out the town's most well known family out of the hospital.

Despite his thoughts, Hook finally found himself nodding off, head still resting on her pillow. His back was going to kill him tomorrow, but he was unable to let go of her hand. Suddenly, there was a light movement. Startled, Hook sat up, wincing at the kinks in his back as he did so. He looked down to see Emma's fingers fluttering ever so slightly.

She was waking up.

"Mary Margaret. David." He called out. "I think Emma's waking up."

There was a low moan as her eyelids fluttered.

"Swan." He said. "Can you hear me?" He laughed nervously as she breathed in shakilly.

Her brows furrowed as she fought against unconsciousness. And then she opened her mouth to speak the three most horrible words Hook had ever heard.

"Who are you?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_Pounding. Her head was pounding. Why wouldn't the pounding stop?_

_A strange man was in front of her, his hand pressed to his right shoulder . When his hand came away smeared with blood, he cursed loudly. "You bitch!" He crowed, stumbling backwards. His ankle twisted on the rug and he fell out of view with a loud thump._

_Bitch. Had she done that? For the first time, she noticed that there was a gun dangling loosely from her hand. It hit the ground with a loud clang as suddenly, her arms gave out._

_And then she stumbled backwards. Fire. Fire was building in her chest. She was in pain. Awful, mind numbing pain. Suddenly unable to hold herself up, she swayed and fell backwards into a sturdy pair of arms._

_"No, no, no." An accented male voice said desperately as she was lowered to the ground. Her head was cradled in the voice's owner's lap, arms splayed out across the carpet. There was a strange pressure on her chest. A moment later she realized it was someone's hand. The hand's owner cursed when it came back a dark red._

_She was getting sleepy. And the fire in her chest was intensifying. Blood. There was blood staining the front of her gray pajama top. Was that her blood?_

_"Emma, love." The same accented voice shouted frantically. A hand slapped at her cheeks. "You have to keep them open!"_

_She hadn't even realized her eyes were closed. With difficulty, she pried them open, immediately regretting it. The room was beginning to spin._

_It was getting harder to breathe._

_"Swan!" The man cried. His face, a mask of and concern and desperation, appeared above hers. Dimly she noted that he was incredibly good looking. "Stay with me." He pleaded._

_Who was he?_

_"Stay with me, love. You're gonna be ok, I promise."_

_The room was growing faint, the man's voice sounding as though it was very far away._

_She wanted to cry out and demand answers but couldn't speak, continuing to stare blankly up at him. The only sound that she was capable of making was a faint whimper._

_So this was what dying felt like._

_She barely noticed the look of anguish on the man's face as all went black._

* * *

A strange, dark haired man was staring down at her. "You're joking, right?" He chuckled nervously.

Emma blinked up at him. "No." She choked. Her voice was hoarse. What the hell was going on? For the first time, she took in her strange surroundings, noticed the constant, irritating beeping at her side. She was sore. No, even worse. Her chest  _killed_ ; even the slightest movement brought tears to her eyes. She had absolutely no recollection of what had happened. There was a tube sticking out of her nose and something pinching at her, and she looked down to see an IV poking out from the crook of her arm.

Hospital. She was in the hospital, something she unfortunately had too much experience with. But why?

The man was watching her with tears in his eyes. He was looking at her with such an intense expression of longing that it was starting to creep her out. Who was he?

"Emma." The man said urgently, reaching down to cup her face. She shuddered automatically and he recoiled as if burned. "Do you really not remember me, love?"

"No!" Emma coughed. "Who are you?" And why he was he calling her "love"?

The man opened his mouth, but then someone pushed him aside. "Emma! You're awake!"

Emma breathed a shaky sigh of relief when her roommate came into view, a watery smile etched on her face. Finally, someone she recognized. She couldn't help but feel herself calm down at the sight of her friend. Maybe she'd start getting some answers now. "Who's…" She started asking, but her roommate cut her off.

"Oh, Emma! I'm so glad you're awake." Mary Margaret reached down and hugged her, her body shaking with sobs. Emma noticed that her friend's clothes were wrinkled and there was even a small stain on the collar of her shirt, something the normally impeccable Mary Margaret would not tolerate. She blinked, touched. Clearly, Mary Margaret had been worried about her, staying in the hospital day and night.

"Oh. Um." Emma said, unused to her show of affection. They were good friends, but not  _that_ great. "It's ok. I'm ok." Still, it was nice to have someone care for her, so she let her overly emotional roommate hug her tightly. She patted her on the back awkwardly.

In the background, she could hear the strange dark haired man saying something about memory loss. What was all that about? He placed a hand on Mary Margaret's shoulder, obviously attempting to get her attention, but the brunette shook him off as she carefully helped Emma sit up, gently sliding a hand on her back.

"We were so worried!" Mary Margaret sobbed as she sat on the foot of her bed, a hand reaching out to brush through Emma's tangled hair.

By we, Emma figured she'd meant herself and Henry. Certainly not Regina, who was probably counting on the fact that Emma would die. The rest of the town, maybe but probably not. Still, two people worrying about her was two more than she'd ever had.

But then, David Nolan came into view. He wore a similar expression as Mary Margaret and strangely enough his appearance was just as disheveled.

"What the hell are  _you_ doing here?" Emma rasped.

Mary Margaret pulled back from her, confusion etching across her face. "Who are you talking to?"

"Him." Emma raised a shaky hand. "David. The man who screwed you over time and time again."

Mary Margaret looked back, David's expression mirroring her own. "What? That's no one to talk to him. Why wouldn't he be here, Emma? He's your fa..."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you." The strange dark haired man said loudly. "She's lost her memory."

 _Memory?_ Emma wondered.  _What the hell was he on?_

She ignored him, turning to Mary Margaret. "Don't tell me you two are back together." Emma groaned. "I swear, there are so many better men out there. Not that I'm one to talk about relationships, but you have got to move on from him!" She blinked at the strange expression on her roommate's face. "What? I know it's harsh but it's the truth."

"Hook, what were you saying about memory loss?" David turned to the dark haired man. Hook. Was that the guy's name? Huh. Strange. Maybe Henry's fairy tale theory held some water after all.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Mary Margaret looked at Emma.

"I don't know." Emma answered. "I think I was packing…?" That answer didn't seem quite right, but as she said it her mind slowly filled with fuzzy images of her two suitcases filled with her all of her admittedly few worldly possessions.

"Wait." David pushed past Mary Margaret. "What?"

"Packing for what?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I was gonna leave Storybrooke." She said sheepishly. "Sorry. I was gonna leave a note. So are you gonna tell me what the hell happened? Why am I here and why do I feel like I've been run over by a truck?"

"So you don't know him?" Mary Margaret gestured at the man. Hook.

"No. I've been trying to tell you. I have no idea who he is. Or what David's doing here." She wrinkled her nose.

"And the last thing that happened was...packing." Mary Margaret said slowly.

"Yes." Emma responded. It was the last thing she remembered, so it  _had_ to be right.

Right?

"Didn't that happen over two years…" Hook started, but David elbowed him in the ribs, effectively shushing him.

"Get Whale." David muttered to Hook. "I think you may be right."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"She doesn't remember anything beyond packing to leave Storybrooke." Mary Margaret confirmed as she exited Emma's room, her face a mask of worry. "Right before Henry ate the turnover and she believed in the curse."

"So she doesn't have any memories of the past three years?" David turned to look at his wife. "The curse breaking, Neverland, us?

Mary Margaret shook her head slowly. "No."

Hook cursed loudly. "So she doesn't remember Ava? Or…" His voice cracked.

"She has no idea who you are." Mary Margaret said softly. "I'm sorry."

David turned to Whale. "Memory loss? Is this possible?"

"Evidently." Whale responded. "It's rare, but it's possible." He sighed. "When the brain is deprived of oxygen for a certain amount of time, there are side effects. Memory loss is one of them." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"So what do we do?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Well, I can run more tests but I'm certain they will come back inconclusive. There's really nothing we can do except wait for her to regain her memories. "

"How long does that take?"

"It's unclear." Whale answered. "It can takes days, months, or even years."

"You're kidding." David boomed, banging on the wall next to him. "Years?!"

"I'm sorry." Whale said.

"What can we do?" Hook piped in. "To help her?"

"For now? Try your best to jog her memory but do not push her. I cannot stress this enough. From what I know, Emma is stubborn. She will not believe that she's lost her memory. If you put too much pressure on her it could only cause more problems. Go along with what she says while trying to help her remember."

* * *

_Freshly out of the shower, Emma padded into her room, hair twisted up in a large towel, a similar colored one around her body as she perused her closet, one hand tapping her chin, a silent internal debate raging on inside as to what to wear._

_Date. Emma Swan was about to go out on an actual date, her first real one in so many years, one that did not involve chasing down criminals._

_So it came to no one's surprise that she was nervous. Actual nervous, complete with heart pounding and sweaty palms._

_She'd spent a ridiculously long time in the bathroom, so long that Henry had given up knocking on the door and just decided to go at the park. It was so unlike her, obsessing over eye shadow colors and various lip glosses. Usually she just grabbed the first thing she found and slapped it on._

_But then again there was nothing normal about this night. Hook had called two nights ago, simply stating that he'd pick her up at 7. How he'd obtained her number, let alone learned to use a phone, she had no idea._

_Emma thumbed through her closet, growing more and more frustrated as she did so. As exciting as a surprise was, it was difficult outfit wise. Should she go with casual, her usual jeans and leather jacket? Or pull out all the stops and do formal?_

_In the end, she settled on closing her eyes and picking whatever her hand landed on first. Which happened to be...the pink dress she'd worn on the night her life changed forever. The night she met Henry._

_Oh, the irony of ironies. This was the dress she usually wore to her fake dates. And now she was planning to wear it on an actual date._

_Oh well. Emma shrugged as she pulled it off the hanger. Maybe it was time to make some new memories with this dress._

_There was a knock on the door. It was showtime. Pulling on a pair of chunky black heels, she exited her room, fastening a pair of hoop earrings on the way out._

_"Hey." She said breathlessly as she swung the door open. She was momentarily flustered at the site of Hook. He was plenty attractive in his usual leather garb. And there was little to nothing that fazed Emma. But in a dress shirt and tie, even she was rendered speechless. Only for a moment of course. "You look... nice."_

_"Ah, just nice?" He teased. "And here I spent a good part of my day obtaining clothing suitable for your land."_

_"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "How?" In her mind she pictured him shopping at Macy's, wrinkling his nose at clothes while making sarcastic comments, and she had to stifle a giggle._

_"Let's just say your lad knows a lot more about clothing than one would originally imagine." Hook answered smoothly._

_"Henry?" Really? But then again it didn't surprise her. Ever since they got back, he'd been all about Hook, talking about the pirate like he was the best thing since sliced bread._

_"Aye." He held his arm out. "Shall we?"_

_Emma looped her arm through his, a feeling of excitement and anticipation spreading inside. Tonight was going to be a night she'd never forget; she was sure of it._

* * *

Beautiful. She was so beautiful when she was sleeping. Her light hair fanned out over the pillow, head turned to the side as her chest rose and fell rhythmically. Her expression was a bit more troubled than Hook liked, but he attributed that to the pain she was undoubtedly in. He thought vaguely that if only he'd somehow prevented her from taking the bullet meant for him, she wouldn't be in this position right now.

"Oh, Swan." He sighed. Why did she have to be so stubborn, so self sacrificing? Didn't she see that her life was worth ten of his?

He had no idea if this would work. Theoretically, it should, since they were each other's true loves. Hook felt ridiculous about what he was about to do, but he was desperate. He needed her to remember, not just for him, but for their daughter. There was no way he could just sit by idly and wait for her memories to return. No way he could live without her.

He tiptoed into her room towards her sleeping figure, being sure to keep quiet, though there really wasn't any point since she was still pretty heavily sedated. Slowly, he placed his hand on the side of her pillow for support and leaned down until his face was inches from hers, lightly touching his lips against hers, reveling in her scent, which despite the antiseptic hospital odor permeating the air, still lingered on her.

He wasn't sure what he expected would happen. It wasn't like he was attempting to wake her up like her father had awoken her mother, or like how she'd awoken Henry and broken the curse. Maybe a flash of light?

What he hadn't been expecting was for her to start, plain shock and disgust written on her face as her eyes fluttered open. "What…" She blinked blearily at him as she took in the dark figure looming over her, partially shrouded by the dimness of the room. "What are you doing?" Confusion was laced through her sleepy voice.

Hook backed up in surprise; he'd foolishly believed that the sedatives would be enough to keep her from waking up and panicking. Disappointment flared, forming a hard pit in his stomach. It hadn't worked. Judging by the hard look in her eyes, she still had no idea who he was.

 _No. I can't just give up._ Maybe he hadn't kissed her hard enough. On impulse, Hook lunged straight at her and pressed his lips firmly against hers.

"Mmmph!" Emma squirmed underneath him, violently twisting her body in all different directions in an attempt to separate herself from him. "MMMPH!" Her fists beat against him, but still he remained frozen, his lips planted against hers, pinning her down with his body despite her protests in desperate hopes that this would work, that she'd miraculously remember, that their love would be enough to retrieve her memories.

Somehow, Emma wrenched herself away, gaping up at him. "What the  _hell_ was that!?" She screeched, a note of terror in her voice as she perused him. As she tried to sit up, her arms immediately clutched around her chest. She bit back a scream; it felt as though her chest was being ripped open by a pack of vicious beasts with sharp claws.

Blood rushed through his ears as he took in her pained expression. She brought her hand to her chest and her eyes widened as it came back bloody.

"What is it?" He asked urgently. "What's wrong?" He reached a hand out to examine, to help, but it was immediately slapped away.

"Stop!" She snapped, backing up. "What do you think you're doing?"

He cringed at her horrified expression and the pain in her eyes, the pain that  _he_ should be experiencing, not her. "You're bleeding, love." With his hook he indicated at the red staining the front of her shirt. "Let me see."

"STOP! I don't even know you!" Emma protested as he fought against her, attempting to pull back the collar of her shirt. Normally she probably would've been able to fight him off but in her drugged, weakened state he almost immediately overpowered her.

"Emma I'm trying to help you," He tried to explain, but Emma wasn't listening as she fought against him once more, kicking her legs and yelling incoherently and calling him things that even he, a pirate, cringed at.

"YOU DIRTY PERVERT!" She shrieked. "LET ME GO! GET OFF!"

Suddenly, she brought her knee up between his legs. At the same time, Mary Margaret rushed in, closely followed by David and a couple security guards.

"What is going on here?" David demanded as he burst into the room. His eyes widened as he took in Hook, who towered over Emma, one hand on the collar of her shirt. The blankets were a tangled mess around her; she was pressed up against the railing on the side of the bed.

"All right, that's it. We warned you last time, buddy." The two security guards each grabbed Hook, effectively pulling him off of Emma. "This is the second time you've assaulted a patient." They hauled him towards the door, closely followed by David, who gave Mary Margaret a look that Emma couldn't exactly read.

Mary Margaret turned her attention to Emma. "Oh my God, you're bleeding." She noticed for the first time.

"I think I pulled my stitches." Emma grimaced, looking up at Mary Margaret.  _Trying to get away from the creep._

As Emma watched Hook leave, she couldn't help but be deeply struck by the haunted look of defeat in his hollowed blue eyes.

Only question was, why did she care?


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Ow." Emma hissed as a nurse used a pad of gauze to dab at the blood seeping out from her wound. "Son of a bitch."

Mary Margaret, who had insisted on staying in the room despite the nurse's protests, shot her a look of commiseration. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Emma muttered. "It's not like it's your fault that I pulled my stitches trying to get away from some perverted stranger."

Mary Margaret winced at Emma's choice of words. If only she knew the truth. "That's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"No." Came the blunt reply. "I mean, this total stranger walks in and kisses me.  _Kisses_ me, of all things. That's just fucked up. I'd arrest him myself, but." She gestured wildly at herself. "Can't exactly do that now can I?"

"Well maybe he had a good reason for doing so?" Mary Margaret suggested, her voice rising in pitch, the same way it did when she was trying to hide something.

Luckily, Emma didn't notice. "Unless that reason is a penchant for assaulting sleeping hospital patients, I don't think so." She replied darkly. "I know people like that. Hell, I've dealt with them. They only want one thing." She shot Mary Margaret an expectant look.

Mary Margaret wanted to argue that Hook was nothing like the ogres she'd dealt with, but she knew full well that Emma wouldn't listen. And why would she anyway; her one real encounter of him had been downright terrifying.

"Ok, this is gonna sting a little." The nurse said as she held up a gauze pad soaked with disinfectant.

"Damn right." Emma flinched as the gauze hit her wound. Across the room, Mary Margaret winced at the barely disguised look of pain on her daughters face. Oh, how she wished she could be holding Emma's hand right now, instead of merely watching ten feet away. She'd had to practically fight tooth and nail to be allowed to stay in the room, as the maddeningly independant Emma no longer remembered who she truly was. Mary Margaret was all for True Love's Kiss and all (at least that's what she assumed Hook had been trying to do), but she was going to  _kill_ the pirate when she saw him next. That is, if David hadn't already done so.

"Done." Said the nurse brightly as she began to clean up. "Try to be more careful next time; every time you rip out a stitch it delays the healing process."

Emma nodded at the nurse as she left the room; at least this one was nicer than many of the ones she'd encountered during her numerous hospital stays as a kid.

"I'm just saying, you shouldn't be so quick to judge." Mary Margaret said as she sat down on the chair next to bed. "You never know who he is or what he's been through."

"Bullshit." Emma shot back. "I wouldn't call this being quick. Look, I know you like to see the good in people but trust me there's nothing good about him. You should stay away from him too; next thing you know he'll come after you." Emma said as she adjusted her top. "I swear, if I ever see him again he'll regret the day he ever stepped foot into my room." She started flipping through the blankets. "Where's that damn remote?" She muttered. As usual, she completely missed the remote sitting on the side table.

Mary Margaret forced herself to smile, despite the mounting sadness inside. "Something tells me you won't be seeing him anymore." She handed Emma the remote, feeling for a moment as though nothing had changed as her daughter's eyes lit up at the prospect of TV. Typical Emma.

"Good." Emma said firmly, flickering on the TV, mind already turned to idly surfing through the hospital's surprising number of channels.

"Yeah." Mary Margaret said quietly. "Good."

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?" David demanded as he faced the pirate. They were in the parking lot, where the security guards had not so gently deposited Hook on the hard concrete. Although he'd greatly helped in Neverland and had been spending every moment after that proving that he was more than a pirate, not everybody in Storybrooke fully accepted him.

"I…" For once, he was at a loss for words. How could he explain what he'd been trying to do?

"Because of you, Emma ripped her stitches." David growled, grabbing Hook's collar and pulling him up in close. The two were practically nose to nose. "You are no longer allowed anywhere near her and I will see to it that you obey."

"You can't do that." Hook challenged. "She's my wife…"

David cut him off. "And I'm her father. And a cop. Don't forget that I may have forgiven you for allowing all of this to happen, but I can just as easily cart you off to rot in jail." David glared at him for a long moment before finally releasing him. "You better watch your step,  _pirate._  One more wrong move and you'll regret the day you ever laid eyes on my daughter."

"Aye." Hook sighed. Normally he would've fought back, but what was the point? He deserved this and more. He knew without a doubt that David was being serious. He'd caused Emma enough pain already; he didn't think he'd be able to get that terrified look out of his mind.

"What were you even thinking?!" David repeated, pacing angrily around the thankfully empty parking lot. "Sneaking into her room while she was sleeping? What did you think would happen?"

"I...I thought it would work." Hook looked down, scratching awkwardly at the back of his neck.

"Thought  _what_ would work?" David spat. And then he realized. "Oh. True Love's Kiss. You thought it'd help her regain her memories."

"Aye."

Suddenly, David laughed mirthlessly, causing Hook to look up in surprise. "I guess I should've known. I tried it myself before as well." He shook his head, a few more notes of laughter escaping. "It doesn't work if they've lost their memories."

"I think I figured that out, thanks." Hook replied, a touch of his usual sarcasm in his voice. "It would've been helpful if you'd thought to inform me of this crucial detail, mate." But on the inside he was secretly relieved. At least now he knew it hadn't worked not because she didn't truly love him, but because she'd lost her memories.

"True." David responded. "Look." He said, seemingly softening. "I get that you're upset. Believe me, I do. My own daughter doesn't remember me." His voice cracked. "I'm her father, yet she thinks of me as some strange man who broke her friend's heart. Everything we've been through, all the progress we've made, all of my best efforts, they have all been erased. But I'm not going to charge into Emma's room and force her to remember. As much as it breaks my heart, I'm going to stay away because that's what's best for her right now. And if I can do it, so can you."

* * *

Hook paused outside of Emma's room later that night. Though David had made it clear that he was not to go inside, even going as far as to place around the clock security guards outside the door (a bit overkill, in Hook's perspective), the guards were noticeably absent. Probably due to the fact that it was the middle of the night.

He'd been on his way home; early the next morning he needed to go pick up Ava, who had been staying with Ruby and Granny ever since the...incident. And when Ruby had stopped by earlier to visit Emma, she'd mentioned to Mary Margaret that Ava was growing anxious to go home. Apparently she'd also sensed that something was wrong, for she was becoming more and more fussy. But part of him didn't want to pick her up, only to be faced with her inevitable questions. 2 year old Ava clearly had her mother's intuition and would immediately want to know where Emma was.

Hook knew he needed to go home, take a shower, and go to bed. He hadn't done either of those things since Emma had arrived at the hospital, as they fell far down on his list of priorities. In fact, he hadn't even left the hospital. But the last thing he wanted was to go back home. Where he would inevitably relive the horrible events until it drove him crazy or he drank himself into a stupor. Whichever came first. And most of all, he couldn't bear to leave Emma as she lay vulnerable in the hospital. He now owed it to her more than ever to protect her.

But Ava, their  _daughter_ , needed him. Hook knew that if Emma hadn't lost her memories, she'd be practically shoving him out the door with a pitchfork. Ever since Ava was born, she and Henry had always been Emma's top priorities. So it went without saying that she'd be beyond furious if she found out she stood between him comforting their daughter. Henry had Regina but all Ava had now was him. And she needed her father.

Hook couldn't bring himself to leave without checking in on her. Though his rational side told him that she was fine, that she had her parents and the doctors taking care of her, something inside was telling him to go in.

 _Just a little peek and then I'm going to go._ He told himself as he checked both sides of the empty corridor before sliding open the door and slipping soundlessly inside the darkened room.

Just like before, she was lying flat on her back, head tilted to side as her chest rose and fell lightly with every breath. The room was filled with the soft sounds of her snoring, something that had greatly annoyed him at first but was now one of her many endearing qualities. In fact, he found that he could no longer fall asleep without her snoring in his ear. In the darkness, she appeared to be deeply asleep. Not a sign of anything wrong.

 _She's fine._ A voice said inside.  _Just as expected._  Satisfied, Hook turned to go, hand curling over the door.

And then he heard it: a soft, pained whimper. So soft Hook thought it might be his ears playing tricks on him. It  _was_ late and he hadn't slept properly in days. He stopped short, listening carefully. But there was it again. A tiny, unmistakable, heartbreaking whimper that was clearly coming from her.

Hook immediately stepped back to the bed and closely surveyed her. Upon closer inspection she no longer appeared to be calmly sleeping. Her brow was furrowed and he could hear short, rapid breaths as she squirmed under the thick blankets. All that coupled with increasing whimpers told him that she was having a nightmare.

This sight and the sound of her suffering hit him right in the gut. She was hurting, probably reliving the worst moments of her life. While she had the occasional nightmare, usually when sick, it was nowhere as bad as this.

"Emma." He whispered into the darkness. "Wake up."

She gave no indication of having heard him. If anything, the whimpers just grew louder.

"Wake up." He said as loud as he dared. He cast a quick glance at the door. If the security guards came back they'd inevitably see him and he'd be dragged out, unable to help. "Swan."

Tears began to leak out of the corner of her eyes as she started to mutter. "No. I can't be a mother."

A note of desperation crept into his voice as his heart broke. "Wake up." This was a particular recurring nightmare of hers, being forced to give up Henry. Clearly the birth of her second child hadn't helped to heal this wound.

It occurred to him that perhaps the painkillers were making it hard for her to wake up. But he couldn't just leave her trapped in a cloud of misery.

Security guards be damned, Hook did the only thing he could think of to do. Cautiously, he reached out a hand to cup her cheek which he noted was damp with tears. Almost instantly, Emma stopped squirming.

_She was subconsciously reacting to his touch._

The room seemed to quiet as her whimpers gradually subsided. With his Hook, he lifted sweaty strands of hair out of her face as he ran his thumb over her cheek. "It's ok, love. Everything's ok." He said with a gentleness he didn't even know he possessed.

Her face began to relax as she turned her cheek, leaning even further into his touch. "Killian." She murmured as she nestled her face against his heavily calloused palm.

Hook froze. Had he heard correctly? Had she just muttered his name? Clearly, on some deep level she still remembered him. Still responded to his touch and voice. He was still able to comfort her. Hope flooded through his chest; maybe all hope was not lost.

He waited until her face grew serene and she was entirely quiet before slowly removing his hand. He leaned down and brushed his lips gently against her forehead before slipping back outside, a small smile spreading across his face despite himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this next ch we'll meet Ava


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Daddy!"

Hook smiled as he approached the counter, where a waiting Ruby stood with Ava early the next morning. It was a cold, yet bright day, perfect in every way possible except…well you know.

"Thanks for taking care of her." He said as he lifted the squirming toddler out of Ruby's arms.

"Of course." She shot him a smile. "How's Emma doing?"

"Better." After last night, he was now full of hope again. It was apparent that deep down Emma still remembered him on some level, and it would only be a matter of time before her memories came back and everything could go back to normal.

"That's good." She replied. "I hope she," Ruby lowered her voice. " _Remembers_ soon." She finished, casting a quick look at Ava, who was luckily babbling happily to herself without any indication of having overheard. "Poor Ava's been asking for Emma for a while."

"Well with any luck her memories will come back." Hook responded.

"Bye." Ruby waved to Ava, who waved back cheerily as Hook left the diner, hoping that the next time he came it'd be with a fully recovered Emma.

He held Ava close to his body, inhaling her sweet baby scent. Suddenly, he remembered how much he'd missed her. How could he have not wanted to pick her up? She was everything to him.

"Did you miss me?"

"Yeah." Ava smiled widely, showing off the adorable gap in her teeth. "Missed Daddy."

Something warm flooded through him as she placed a small hand on his face and laughed at the rough texture against her skin. "Where's Mama?"

Hook's insides suddenly froze; he'd been expecting this question but hadn't thought it'd come this fast. "Daddy missed you too." He said quickly, trying to change the subject. "We're gonna have so much fun. How would Ava like to go to the park and feed the ducks?"

"Yay!" Ava squealed, clapping her little hands together. "Ducks!"

Hook breathed a sigh of relief; clearly her short attention span would be of great use.

* * *

"Ava sweetie, hold Daddy's hand."

"Up Daddy." Ava said, holding her arms out.

"Ok." Hook smiled taking her into his arms. "Lets go feed those duckies!"

Once they reached the pond, and Ava spotted all the ducks, she held onto Hook tighter.

"No Daddy." She whimpered. "Go back to slide."

"Why sweetie?"

"Duckies scawy."

"They're not, they're cute." Hook soothed. "Here, let me show you." Hook set Ava down next to him and pulled a piece of the loaf of bread.

"Ava, look at Daddy." Hook ordered. He threw the piece of bread, and watched as the duck approached it. "See?" He turned to his daughter. "Duckies are nice." He smiled. "Why don't you try?"

Ava nodded and moved closer to her father. He handed her a small piece. "Throw it Ava."

She did as told and giggled as she saw the ducks approaching it. "Look Daddy." Ava squealed. "More."

Hook laughed and gave her another piece. They were both having so much fun, they didn't notice the time ticking away. It was easily the best day Hook had had in a while; he could feel his tension from the past several days disappearing with every note of Ava's laughter. Soon though, Ava started getting a bit fussy.

"Come on princess, it's time to go." Hook told her once he noticed her starting to fall asleep.

"Why Daddy?"

"It's getting late and you're tired."

"Ava not sleepy." She said stubbornly, holding back a yawn.

Hook laughed as he took her in his arms. She looked so much like Emma when she insisted she wasn't tired as well.

"Come on."

Not five minutes later, Ava was fast asleep in his arms as they drove home. He was so thankful that the day at the park and feeding the ducks had eased his mind and been a distraction for Ava. She hadn't asked about Emma at all anymore, which for the moment was all he wanted.

Hook pulled her blanket, one that looked much like Emma's baby blanket, up around her chin. "Good night, princess." He pushed back her unruly blond strands, and with one last glance, exited the room.

* * *

_Emma bit her lip as she stared down at the small object in her hand. No, no, no, no no. She was hallucinating. She had to be hallucinating. Right?_

_One of these things may lie, but five didn't. She was pregnant again._

_Not that she hadn't had any suspicions, but she'd been hoping it was just a bad case of food poisoning._

_There was a knock on the door. "Emma? You in there?" It was Mary Margaret._

_Crap!_

" _Uh, yeah." She said, her voice taking on that high pitched quality it always did when she was lying. "Just taking a shower."_

" _Without water?" Mary Margaret teased._

_Double crap._

" _Is everything ok?" Her mother asked. Emma's eyes widened in horror; the doorknob started to turn. Looked like she'd forgotten to lock it._

" _Yeah, don't come in…" She started to say, scrambling to clean everything up, but it was too late._

" _Haven't you ever heard of privacy?" She snapped, awkwardly repositioning herself against the sink, hoping her back would hide all the evidence._

_Mary Margaret raised her hands up in surrender. "Ok, sorry. Just wanted to make sure that food poisoning isn't back."_

" _It's not. If you'll excuse me." Emma surreptitiously crunched up the little white sticks in her hands behind her back. "I have to get to the station." She stuffed them in her back pockets. "Bathroom's all yours." She said as she shuffled past her mother._

_Whew, she'd done it. Made a clean getaway. Although she hadn't been planning to go the station, she'd figured she'd go anyway. At least it'd be a quiet place for her to think and regroup._

" _Emma?" Mary Margaret called. "I think you dropped something."_

_Uh oh. Emma turned back to see Mary Margaret holding up one of the little white sticks, eyes wide, her face a mask of surprise and humor._

" _Great." Emma sighed. "You caught me. I'm pregnant." She winced inwardly; just saying it aloud made it sound so real. She flopped down onto the couch, arms crossed._

" _Well don't sound too happy." Mary Margaret sat down next to her._

" _I'm not."_

" _Why?" Her mother asked. "A baby's a wonderful thing!"_

" _Yeah, maybe for you." Emma snapped. "You're good with kids. But me? Not so much."_

" _What are you talking about? Henry loves you."_

" _In case you haven't noticed, I didn't exactly raise him. I can't do this. I can't be a mother."_

" _You're a mother to Henry."_

" _Barely."_

" _Emma." Mary Margaret raked her hand through her daughter's hair. "It's going to be ok."_

" _No, it's not." Emma squirmed out of her grasp and turned to face her mother. "I can't have a baby. I-I'll mess it up. God." She sank her head into her hands. "This can't be happening. This is exactly why I gave up Henry. Because I can't be a freaking mother."_

" _You're wrong. You're a wonderful mother to Henry and he loves you very much. And this isn't like last time, Emma. You have so many people to help. Me, your father, Hook."_

_At the sound of Hook's name, Emma groaned. "Oh God. Hook."_

" _I take it he doesn't know yet?"_

"I  _didn't even know up until twenty minutes ago."_

" _You have to tell him."_

_Emma sighed. "I know. I just don't know how he's gonna react. We haven't exactly...discussed this."_

" _It's going to be fine." Mary Margaret replied. "He may be many things, but I know that he loves you very much and will support you no matter what happens."_

_Emma nodded, but it was apparent she was still unconvinced._

_Twenty minutes later, Hook sat nervously in a booth at Granny's. Emma had texted earlier that she needed to talk, that it couldn't wait until their date later that night. He fingered the small box in his coat pocket, both excitement and fear jolting through his stomach as he did so. If all went according to plan, the box's contents would soon be hers tonight._

" _Hey." He looked up as she approached. "Got you your favorite." He nodded at the mug of hot cocoa with cinnamon already waiting on the table in front of him._

" _Thanks." Emma smiled, but she seemed distracted as she sat down and knotted her fingers tightly in front of her._

_Oh, no. Had she found out about his little plan? Was that why she'd texted so urgently? He inwardly cursed himself for telling David all about it. Sure, it was customary to get the father's permission, but since when did Captain Hook abide by tradition?_

" _We need to talk." Emma began._

 _Bloody hell. She_ did  _know, and was telling him that it was over._

" _I've found that when a woman says that I'm rarely in for a pleasant conversation." He joked in a rather blatant attempt to lighten the mood._

_But she ignored him, nervously fidgeting and staring at the tabletop, hands wrapped around the mug. Was that...fear? What was she so afraid of?_

" _Emma." He reached out and touched her hand. "Is everything alright?"_

" _Not exactly…" She muttered._

" _Whatever it is, we'll get through it together." He reassured. "You can't get rid of me that easily."_

" _I'm pregnant." She blurted. Her eyes darted up to his face and then quickly back down to the table._

_Hook was stunned into silence as her words rang through his head. Pregnant? That meant...a baby?_

" _H-how did this happen?" He found himself choking._

" _Seriously? If you need me to explain, you're mentally deficient." She snapped back._

_Pregnant. She was going to have his baby. He was very glad he was seated, or else he probably would've collapsed. Fear darted through his heart. How was he supposed to raise a baby when for the past God knew how many years he'd only been responsible for himself?_

_And then, despite himself, he felt a large, silly grin cross his face. It didn't matter how he was supposed to do it. All that mattered was that he was going to have a child._

" _Emma. That's...that's wonderful, love."_

" _Really?" Her eyes met hers and for the first time Hook realized what she'd been so afraid of. His reaction. "I-I know it's too soon, and we haven't exactly talked about this…" She said shakily._

_In a fluid motion, he stood up and crushed his lips against hers, effectively shutting her up. "I admit it's a bit unexpected, but I have never been more happy."_

_Her entire body seemed to relax, sinking into his touch. However, as he sat back down, the worry was back on her face._

" _It's just…" She began. "I don't know if I can do this. Be a mother."_

" _Of course you can." He said encouragingly. "Need I remind you that your lad looks up to you like some sort of hero?"_

" _Yeah, but…" She said uncertainly. "That's different than a baby. I've never even touched one before."_

" _And never have I." Hook responded. "There's no way you could be worse than I am."_

_She laughed. "I guess."_

_Although Hook had been planning on waiting until tonight, he found his hand snaking its way down into his coat pocket. If this wasn't the perfect moment, he didn't know what was._

" _Whatever happens, I'll be right by your side." He reassured. "And I'll make bloody sure of it." Here goes. He brought up the small box and deftly popped it open. Hook watched with nervousness as surprise, quickly followed by an expression of pure joy crossed her face._

" _I-is this what I think it is?" She said shakily, tears already making their way down her face._

" _Aye." He replied. "Marry me, Emma Swan."_

_A small crowd had gathered around their corner booth, people whispering fervently amongst themselves._

" _I-I don't know what to say." She stammered._

" _A simple yes would suffice."_

_Hook could see the familiar, barely disguised fear in her eyes. Had it been too soon? Had he not successfully broken down her sky high walls surrounding her heart?_

_Finally, she smiled. "Yes."_

_As the crowd cheered, he slid the ring onto her finger, her lips already finding their way to his._


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

David watched in amusement as Mary Margaret raced around the apartment, frantically shoving knick knacks into drawers and taking down pictures.

"What are you doing?"

"Emma thinks its still three years ago." Mary Margaret replied as she perused a ceramic bird figurine. "Was this here then?" She muttered, turning to David.

He shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Whatever. I'll just tell her it's new."

"So you're redecorating because…?"

God. Men could be so dense. "I have to get everything to look like how it did or else she'll think something's wrong." She placed another framed photograph of her, David, Emma, and Henry into an open box at her feet. "Remember what Whale said? We have to go along with what Emma thinks."

"Right."

"Speaking of which, here." She tossed a duffel bag at her husband.

"What's this for?"

"Go pack some clothes. You're bunking with Hook and Ava."

"But…" David protested.

"No buts!" Mary Margaret stomped her foot. "What's going to happen when Emma gets home and sees you and all of your stuff in here? As far as she knows, David Nolan broke Mary Margaret's heart. If she sees you living in here…"

"She'll freak out." David snapped his fingers. "Got it." Without another word, he headed to their bedroom. "I guess Hook and I could use some quality time." He joked.

"Don't have too much fun." Mary Margaret called back. She turned back to the apartment. Emma's bed made? Check. Emma's clothes that Hook had brought back scattered in her old room? Check. All evidence of David gone? Check. Boxes littered the floor and without David's DVD collection and other random belongings, it looked strangely empty. "Did this place always look so depressing?"

"Yes." David came up behind her, duffel bag in hand. "It did."

Mary Margaret sighed heavily. "This is just temporary. Right?"

"I certainly hope so."

* * *

The first thing Emma saw as she entered the apartment was a banner.  _The_ banner that had been used at Mary Margaret's welcome back from jail party. Strangely enough, though, it looked like someone had added "and Emma" to the end in tiny letters, and then crossed out the big letters spelling out Mary Margaret's name. Odd.

"Nice banner." She commented.

"Uh, thanks." Mary Margaret said, looking weirdly flustered. "Henry made it."

Emma looked around the apartment. Something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Is that new?" She pointed at a ceramic bird figurine on a shelf.

"Hmm? Yeah." Mary Margaret set down Emma's bags. Emma had insisted on carrying them herself but her roommate had argued that Whale had said no heavy lifting for a while.

"Finally, a shower without any nurses interrupting." Emma joked as she headed towards the bathroom.

"I don't think so." Mary Margaret said as she gently steered Emma towards the bed. "You need to go to bed."

"Aw, come on." Emma protested. "I'm not tired, Mom."

A strange look crossed Mary Margaret's face at the word "Mom" but it was quickly replaced by a stern look. "You heard what Whale said. Bed rest."

Emma opened her mouth to argue but found that she didn't want to. She  _was_ pretty exhausted despite lying in a bed doing nothing for a week. And there was something so comforting about how caring Mary Margaret was being. It was almost...motherly. Familiar too. And not entirely unwelcome.

God. She was letting Henry's fairytale theory get to her.

She must've drifted off, because the next thing she knew there was a presence in the bed next to her, a hand stroking at her hair soothingly. She opened one eye to find Mary Margaret next to her.

"Hey." She said sleepily.

"Oh!" Mary Margaret jumped, her hand jerking back. "You're awake. I-I'm sorry. I was just…"

"It's fine." Emma smirked. Funny. Normally she would've been creeped out, but she found herself being fine with it. Surprisingly comfortable with her roommate, like they were really family or something. Weird. Emma did not usually get all touchy feely with people. The painkillers were probably just making her loopy.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position. "So, you never did tell me what happened."

"What?"

Emma gestured to herself. "This. Everytime I ask you ignore me."

"Well..." Mary Margaret looked away. To Emma's sleep addled brain, it seemed as though she was trying to come up with an answer. "There was a, uh, burglar. He had a gun, and well you know. I came home to find you lying on the ground."

"Oh." Emma tried to imagine what it must've felt like for Mary Margaret to come home to that horrific scene. "I guess I have you to thank then."

"Mmm.." Mary Margaret said faintly. "Sure.

"Did they take anything?"

"I don't think so. Doesn't matter anyway. Not much here to take."

True. "That's good then." She hesitated before saying the next part."You know that I was planning to leave, right?" Emma asked. There really wasn't a way around it, and it had to be addressed. "If it wasn't for this, I'd be back in Boston by now."

"So you're still planning to leave?"

Was it Emma's imagination, but did Mary Margaret seemed to look panicky? "Well,  _yeah_." Emma replied. "I know I should've told you and I'm sorry. I like it here, I really do. But I do think me leaving will be best for Henry."

"Are you sure?" She urged.

"Yes." Emma maintained. "I'm sure."

"Yeah, well, you heard Whale. You need to rest." Mary Margaret hopped off the bed and shot her a wry smile. "Looks like you're not going anywhere for a while." She patted her leg and left the room. "I've got some of that chicken noodle soup you like so much. I'll go bring you some."

As Emma watched Mary Margaret leave, already thinking ahead to watching some TV, she vaguely wondered why Mary Margaret almost seemed relieved that Emma was bedridden, unable to leave.

* * *

Staying with Hook wasn't half bad. As they sat back on the couch, sipping beers, watching some random slasher film, being sure to keep the volume down as Ava slept in the next room. If David ignored the reason he was here, this was almost...nice.

"Pass the popcorn." He reached an arm out, and Hook automatically set the rather large bowl into his waiting hand. The perfect, buttery snack coupled with the ice cold beer and the movie playing on the large TV almost made David forget why he was here. Almost.

"There are many things I miss about the Enchanted Forest." He commented as he set his feet atop the coffee table, something that Mary Margaret would protest at but Hook didn't seem to care. "But not the absence of movies. Whoever invented the TV is a genius."

"Aye." Hook raised his bottle of beer. "I'll drink to that, mate."

They were both on their third or maybe fourth beer each. The moment David had stepped through the door, both of them had looked at each other awkwardly, unsure of what to do given the events that had recently transpired. But then David had suggested a movie, and three hours later they were both stretched comfortably on the large leather sofa. Both had felt the need to get drunk. It could be argued that that was because that was part of a regular guy's night, but both knew better.

The drunker they were, the easier it would be to forget, at least momentarily, the predicament they were all facing.

"Oh!" Hook crowed as the serial killer sliced his knife through a nondescript character's stomach. "That's bloody disgusting." He laughed.

David burped in response. "Amen."

"I bet none of them could best me in a fight." Hook commented as he brandished his large silver hook.

"Dude." David pointed drunkenly at the screen, where the killer was busy shooting everything within a ten mile radius. Someone collapsed with a grunt, clutching their chest. "You'd be dead meat if you ever came across him. Look at the size of his gun."

And just like that, both fell silent.

"God." David said finally, sounding suddenly sober. "Every time I think of that son of a bitch…" He trailed off.

"Aye." Hook responded. "Mighty lucky for him that he's locked up in jail."

"I don't know what's worse, the fact that Emma has an awful, stilted version of reality or that she lost her memories at all."

"Because if she lost all of her memories it'd be easier to convince her of the truth." Hook finished, knowing instinctively what David was saying. He'd been feeling the same way as well.

"Exactly. We were making so much progress." David lamented, tipping his head back to finish off his bottle. "Finally got to be a family. And now she's back to being the closed off, jaded woman she was before."

"I don't know how much longer I can keep telling Ava her mother's at work. I can't care for her all on my own." Hook added. "I do believe that eventually she'll regain her memories but there's no telling how long that could take."

"That'll be the least of our worries if she decides to leave." David said heavily. "According to Mary Margaret Emma was planning to leave. If she does…"

 _We'll never see her again._ Hook finished internally. He figured that Emma might come back once in a while to see Henry and Mary Margaret but what about him and Ava? As much as Ava loved her mother, she would eventually forget about her. What would happen then?

There was a clunk. " _What_?"

David and Hook looked up to see Henry, one hand clutching his backpack which now rested on the floor, evidently the source of the noise, his face a mask of shock and worry.

"Lad? What're you doing?" Hook squinted. "Aren't you supposed to be at the queen's?"

"It's the middle of the night." David added.

"I wanted to come back. My mom drove me." Henry answered. This was just further testament to the fact that everyone was being extra nice to Henry; normally Regina wouldn't have driven Henry back when he was staying with her.

"I-is what you said true?" Henry's voice wavered. "Is Emma going to leave?"

"No, of course not." David answered immediately. But his eyes were downcast, refusing to meet Henry's.

"She is, isn't she?" Henry said. "That's what she thinks she was planning to do."

"We're not going to allow it." Hook said, trying to calm Henry down.

"No offense, but she doesn't know who you are. She won't listen." A small, devious smile slowly began to spread on his face. "But me, on the other hand…"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Hey Mom!" Henry said brightly the next morning, his arms ladeled with what appeared to be a large stack of board games and DVDs.

"Hey, kid." Emma responded from her spot on the couch. That had been a compromise; Mary Margaret had wanted her to stay in bed and Emma had flat out refused, quipping absently that she'd suffered  _way_ worse injuries and had been sent back to school fairly soon after by various foster parents. That had caused a pained look to briefly cross Mary Margaret's face, which confused Emma. Why did she look so...guilty? It wasn't like it was her fault Emma's childhood sucked.

"I thought we could hang out. Must be pretty boring sitting here all day." Henry said as he emptied the contents of his arms onto the carpet.

"You have no idea." Emma said dryly. She shot a look at Mary Margaret over her shoulder. "Now that Henry's here you really don't have to stay here out of pity. Its Saturday. Go out and have some fun. As long as its not with David."

A pained look seemed to cross Mary Margaret's face as she joined them. "I'm fine." She insisted. "Besides, I love board games."

Emma shrugged. "Suit yourself." She eyed one of the boxes, a particular one catching her eye. "Sorry?" Emma eyed one of the boxes. "Aww yeah, I love that game!" She perused the rest of the stack. "Wow. Checkers, Monopoly, even Scrabble? And is that Clue? What'd you do, rob a toy store?"

"No." Henry said as he helped himself to the plate of cookies Mary Margaret had set on the counter. "I brought them from home."

"Thanks." Her heart warmed at the thought of spending the day playing board games with Henry and Mary Margaret. There was something so  _cozy_ about it, something that she never knew she'd wanted.

Henry began to divvy up the game pieces. "Ok, who wants what color?"

"Green!" Emma said as she waved her hand. "What?" She said as she caught the amused look on their faces. "Its my lucky color. Not that I need luck to win." She added, almost as an afterthought. "I don't know about you, but I'm weirdly good at this game."

"Of course you are." Mary Margaret said, shuffling the cards. "Too bad there's only three of us. It'd be better with four people. Whatever." She shrugged as she set aside the red pieces. "Who's going first?" Mary Margaret had to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying that it would be better if David was there.

"Mom can." Henry gestured around their circle. "Then we can go clockwise."

"Sure." Emma agreed as she reached out to draw a card. And then something occured to her. "Since when do you call me Mom?" She frowned.

"Oh, uhh." Henry stammered. He and Mary Margaret exchanged a quick, nervous glance that Emma would've missed had she hadn't looked up after her turn. "Sorry."

"Its fine." Emma said, feeling awkward. Clearly her son was becoming more and more attached, which would only make things harder when she left as soon as she was recovered. She looked expectantly at Mary Margaret. "Your turn."

Soon enough, Henry and Mary Margaret found that Emma was in fact weirdly good at Sorry, a game that was based on pure chance, where strategies could only get you so far.

"Told ya." Emma said happily as she plunked her last piece down. "And I win."

"Wow. That was impressive." Mary Margaret commented.

"Eh." Emma said. "You should see me at Scrabble."

Three games later, they found out that she hadn't been kidding. Even Mary Margaret the teacher couldn't beat Emma when it came to the amount of creative words she could come up with.

"So what next?" Henry asked. His face was covered with cookie crumbs and he bounced up and down slightly on the carpet; clearly the sugar was kicking in.

Emma stifled a yawn, having just knocked back a couple of painkillers. "I don't know, kid." She looked at the clock. "Its almost five. Shouldn't you be going home now? Before your Mom finds out you were here all day?"

"Oh, she's ok with it."

"Uh-huh." Emma said, obviously unconvinced. "I'm sure she is."

"She is." Henry insisted. "Really."

"The Regina I know will have my head if you're even a minute late."

"Well maybe you don't know her as well as you think you do." He said cryptically.

Emma looked up. "What's  _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Henry said quickly as Emma continued to state suspiciously at him.

"I think Emma's right." Mary Margaret cut in. "She needs her rest anyway." She said as Emma yawned once more. "I'll walk you out."

"Ok." Henry said. "Can I at least take some cookies back?"

"Sure." They headed towards the kitchen as Emma began to clean up the scattered remnants of their impromptu game day. As she folded up the game board, she thought she heard them whispering feverently.

"Bye. Emma." Henry said as he hugged her goodbye. Was it her imagination or did the "Emma" part sound a little forced?

"Bye." She said as she closed the door after him. "Well, that was fun." She leaned against the door. "I don't remember having so much fun with board games before. They were usually something foster parents did to get us to bond. Never worked."

"Yeah." Mary Margaret agreed. "Still think it's in Henry's best interest to leave? He seemed pretty happy today."

"Yeah, well." Emma shrugged. "That doesn't mean its best for him if I stay."

"But maybe it is?"

"Or maybe its not. Look, I talked to Archie before...well you know. And while he agrees that while Henry's been happier since I came, he's also been acting out. Breaking rules, sneaking out. All because of me."

"I guess." Mary Margaret said uncertainly.

"And its not like I won't be able to see him. Just not...everyday."

"But Emma..."

"I just want to do what's best for him. And I'm clearly not it." Emma started up the stairs. "I've made up my mind. I'm leaving as soon as I can."

* * *

 _Today had been a success, right?_ Henry thought as he walked home. Emma had seemed happy, and best of all, completely distracted.

He'd practically messed up so many times. First calling her Mom and then forgetting about how Regina used to be like. But whatever. All he had to do was get her to see how happy they were together to keep her from leaving.

If she did, no one could stop her, for no one could leave Storybrooke. And there was no telling when her memories would return. They would lose her indefinitely.

Next up in his grand plan to get Emma to stay was to convince her of the curse. He knew that this would not be an easy task, seeing as she only believed the first time because he'd eaten the turnover. Except that of course no one would allow him to put his life on the line just to get Emma to believe.

So he decided to do the next best thing: force her to read the storybook cover to cover and admit that it was the truth.

Bright and early the next morning, he was knocking on the door to Mary Margaret's apartment. It felt a little strange to have to knock, as he'd been given a key a while ago. But as far as Emma knew, he didn't have a key, so it was back to knocking.

"Hey." Emma said as she greeted him, a steaming mug of coffee in one hand. "What're you doing here so early, kid?"

"I thought we could hang out again."

"And you're sure your mom is ok with this?"

"Yep!" Henry answered as he pushed past her into the apartment.

Emma frowned. Something seemed off; her instincts told her that he wasn't lying, but the Regina she knew would  _never_ be ok with her son spending so much time with Emma. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind and joined Henry on the couch. "So what do you wanna do? I'm kinda tired of board games. Wanna go upstairs and look through my DVDs? There might be something you'd like."

"Or…" Henry started rifling through his backpack. "We could read this."

Emma sighed inwardly as he pulled out his book of fairytales. Not this again. "Oh. Um."

"Come on." He urged. "You've never finished it."

"Yeah, but…" She stopped, seeing the desperate look on his face. "Ok."

He flipped it open to a page that she was super familiar with by now: Snow White and Prince Charming standing on the Troll Bridge.

"I think I've seen this before." Emma attempted to turn to a different page, but he slapped his hand down.

"Just look at the page." He said. "Who do they remind you of?"

"That's easy." She smirked. "Mary Margaret and David."

His eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah. You've only reminded me of this like a thousand times. They're my long lost parents who sent me through a magical wardrobe to save me from a curse. A curse that your mother, the Evil Queen, placed on this town."

"Right." He said. "But now there's more." Henry flipped to another page in the book, stopping on an image of a dark haired man with a smirk. "Do you recognize him?"

Emma stared at the image. It was just a hand drawn picture, but it was super detailed. She could feel herself attracted to the man already. She blinked; what was wrong with her? It was just a picture. "Um, if I saw him around town I think I'd remember  _him._ Who's he?"

"That's Captain Hook."

"Really? Are you sure?" She stared at the man and struggled to reconcile the image of the iconic Captain Hook she held in her mind to the attractive one in the book.

"Yeah. So do you recognize him?"

"No. I don't think so."

"Are you sure?" He pressed. "Look carefully. Does he seem familiar at all?"

"Henry…"

"Just look."

She did, really did to try and see if she recognized him, but as far as she knew he was just a pirate. Since when had she known any of those? She'd met some pretty weird people over the years, but no guyliner wearing, all leather clad, admittedly sexy pirate.

"So? Anything?"

Alright, enough was enough. Emma snapped the book closed. "What's this about, Henry?"

"I-it's part of operation cobra."

"No it's not." She replied. "And you know it. Tell me the truth."

Henry stared at the ground. Should he tell her? His grandparents and Hook had urged him not to, as it would seem like the delusional ramblings of a kid. But she had to know the truth.

"Henry?" She raised an eyebrow. "C'mon."

Fine. If she wanted the truth, it was what she was going to get. "He's your husband." Henry blurted.

Emma was blindsided. "...Who?"

"Hook." He opened the page and pointed at the picture of the pirate. "Him. He's your husband."

 _Oh no. His delusions were worse than she thought._ "What are you talking about, Henry? You think I'm married to a fairy tale character?" With every word her voice rose in pitch, laced with disbelief. "What are you talking about? I think I'd remember being married."

"That's just it! You don't!" He argued. "When you were shot you lost all your memories of the past several years. You only think that the last thing that happened was you getting ready to leave but that's not true."

Emma gaped at him, opening and closing her mouth like a fish. She was at a complete loss for words.

Henry continued. "You forgot all about breaking the curse, and how you and your mother got transported to the Enchanted Forest where you met Hook, whose real name is Killian by the way, and then you came back and then there was this epic battle against Regina and her mother Cora who died. And later I got kidnapped and taken to Neverland and you, your parents, Regina, Hook, and Gold went to save me and then you did and we came back and later you and Hook got married." He finished.

"Let me get this straight. You think all of this actually happened and that I just...forgot all of it?"

"Not think." He said emphatically. "It actually happened."

"Henry…"

"Don't give me that look. Use your superpower to see if I'm lying." When she didn't reply, he smiled triumphantly. "See, you know I'm not lying. I know it's a little scary, not remembering, but now that we know we can go find Hook and…" He stood up, pulling on her arm. "Come on!"

"No. Wait." She pulled her arm away. How was she going to say this without hurting his feelings?

"Come on. Hook misses you and we should really go find him."

"Henry. Listen to me." She began. "You clearly have a  _very_ wild sense of imagination, which will come in very useful for English in the future. But you can't honestly believe that this is true."

"But...it is."

"No it's not. And you know it. You can't go on believing in this stuff. Fairy tale characters are just that. They're  _characters._  In stories. They're not real."

"Yes they are. And you have a da…"

"Enough." She interrupted. "I'm sorry. I know it hurts, but it's not real."

At the sound of her serious tone, he seemed to deflate. "Ok." He started heading up the stairs. "I'm gonna go look for a DVD."

This had been his last hope. A real long shot, but he'd been hoping that true love would prevail. And now that it hadn't...what was he to do?

* * *

_Emma stood in front of him, her belongings strewn about the living room, having been interrupted in the middle of packing. "Henry, what are you doing?" She eyed her son, her gripped Regina's apple turnover in both hands. They were arguing over a dessert, for God's sake, and it was annoying her to no end._

" _I'm sorry it had to come to this." A note of sadness crept into his voice. "You may not believe in the curse or in me, but I believe in you." He took a big bite out of the turnover, his eyes never leaving hers._

" _You see?" She shook her head. "You want to have some ice cream and then we can go back to talking about…" She never finished her sentence, for Henry collapsed to the ground._

" _Henry?!" She shouted, horror growing inside. This could_ not  _be happening. No, no, rushed over to him, her heart pounding with dread. Oh God. He wasn't breathing. He couldn't be dead...could he? All because of the turnover. "Henry!"_

Emma jolted awake, her body bathed with sweat as she gazed wildly around the dark, familiar room, half expecting to find Henry lying unconscious on the floor.

It took a second for her to realize that that had just been a dream.

But it had felt  _so_ real. She couldn't remember the last time a dream had been so real. She could remember the irritation quickly followed by mounting fear and a crushing feeling of horror.

To be completely honest, it had felt like something that had already happened. But that was crazy!

It had to be an omen, then. A message from some higher power that if she didn't leave she'd be responsible for Henry's destruction. Well, message received. A little redundant, since she was already planning to leave, but effective nonetheless.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

(A week later)

Emma huffed in frustration as she leaned back against her suitcase, which sat in the middle of a sea of clothing. Why wouldn't it close? She sighed and started to yank things out. Of  _course_ she waited until the last possible moment to pack.

"When did I buy this?" She frowned as she perused a white turtleneck. The more she pulled out, the more she realized that she didn't recognize half the clothing she owned.

Just then, she heard the click of the front door as it opened.

"Mary Margaret?" Emma called. "Is that you?"

There was no answer, but she could hear shuffling in the kitchen. Her roommate fixing dinner, presumably. A dinner that Emma would take with her for the road. She already missed Mary Margaret's cooking.

"Hey. Did you mix up your clothes with mine?" She said as she balled up yet another unfamiliar top. "I don't remember buying half of these things."

"What?" A voice said. Emma looked up to see Henry standing in the doorway, a bottle of juice clutched in one hand.

"Oh, hey." She replied. "Nothing, I thought you were Mary Margaret. What're you doing here?"

"I thought we could hang out, watch a movie or something." He replied.

Emma frowned. For the past week, Henry had been coming over at any chance he could get, bringing over games, movies, and whatever else he thought would keep them entertained at the apartment. For some reason, Mary Margaret insisted that Emma should stay at home. Something to do with doctor's orders, but it seemed more like Mary Margaret was trying to hide her.

"Don't you have homework?" She asked.

"Nope." He answered breezily. "Finished it."

"Well, I'm sorry kid but I gotta pack."

"Why?"

"We've been over this." Emma stood up and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Remember? I told you a couple days ago. I'm leaving."

"B-but..." Henry stammered. "What about your job? You're the sheriff."

"I turned in my badge this morning." She responded. "I imagine your mom will be plenty happy about that."

"You can't just leave." Henry protested. Weirdly enough Emma had a brief flash of deja vu. "Your family, they're all here. They need you."

"Oh, kid." Emma gazed down sadly. How could she tell him that she  _had_ no family? She bent down until she was at his level. "Its going to be ok, Henry. I spoke to your mom, we're gonna be able to see each other. Just...not everyday."

"B-but..."

"Its for the best." She shot him a shaky smile as she stood back up and turned back to her suitcase, trying to keep her emotions in check.

"Hey, I'm home." Mary Margaret called. "I brought dinner from Granny's."

"Oh good." Emma said as she finally snapped her suitcase shut. "I'm starving." Granny's food was even better than Mary Margaret's. "Wanna stay for dinner?" She called over her shoulder as she started to heave her stuff down the stairs.

"Sure." He answered dejectedly, following her.

"Did you bring grilled cheese?" She said as she set her suitcase down by the door.

"Of course." Mary Margaret replied, a wry smile on her face. "Oh, you should've let me take that." She gestured to the stuffed bag.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Its fine. You can quit treating me like an invalid."

They sat down to eat; luckily Mary Margaret had thought to buy an extra serving. There was a weird, tense feeling in the air. A feeling of finality. It occurred to Emma that this was the last meal she'd eat with others. Fake dates with the dirtbags she chased down didn't count.

Too soon, dinner was over. Emma looked over at the clock. It was almost 7. "I should go. Don't wanna be driving too late." She pushed back her chair and picked up her plate.

"Yes. Of course." Mary Margaret nodded. "Here, I'll take that. You go and make sure you have everything."

Henry remained seated, his face an unhappy mask as he picked at the remains of his burger.

Emma zipped up her jacket as she barreled down the stairs. "Think I got everything." She picked up her car keys and stuck them in her pocket. "Here." She set the apartment key down on the counter. Suddenly, she couldn't meet Mary Margaret's eye. "Thanks for...everything."

"Of course." She looked sadly at Emma. "You sure you have to go?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Just..." Mary Margaret seemed to be considering something carefully. "Think about what you'll be leaving behind."

Emma looked quizzically at her.  _Um, what?_ But before she could say anything, the brunette reached out and wrapped Emma in a tight hug. She breathed in her familiar smell, a smell that she'd come to associate with home. A smell that suddenly brought tears to her eyes.

"Call if you need anything." Mary Margaret released her, forcing a smile. She seemed to be holding back tears.

Emma nodded. "Yeah. Will do."

Henry ran up and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Please don't go." He begged.

"I'm sorry." She said, meaning it. "But I have to." She pressed her chin to the top of his head, thinking idly that he seemed to be a lot taller than she last remembered. "Hey." She said as he stepped back. "This isn't goodbye. You and I are still gonna see each other. And you have my number. You can call me anytime."

"Except at night." Mary Margaret joked in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. "You know how Emma gets when she doesn't sleep."

Henry nodded. "I'm gonna miss you."

"Me too, kid." Emma picked up her suitcase and turned towards the door. She looked back at the apartment one last time. She was really gonna miss this cozy little place. Though a far cry from her sleek, modern apartment in Boston it had felt more like home than any other place she'd ever lived in.

"Have a safe trip back." Mary Margaret said as she reached out to open the door. She wrapped her in one last hug. "Call me as soon as you get there."

Emma nodded, a thick lump in her throat. As she shot a smile over her shoulder, turning to walk out the door, she had the strangest feeling that she  _was_ in fact leaving something, or maybe _someone_ behind. Something or someone forgotten.

But what? Or who?

* * *

_(Two years ago)_

_As the sun rose between the trees outside the window, all Emma could think about was how, in that moment, she was back to being the scared out of her mind eighteen year old girl she'd tried so hard to bury deep inside._

_It was the eeriest feeling of deja vu, mirroring that horrible day nearly eleven years ago, a day where she'd had to do something she'd vowed she'd never do._

_Give up her child._

_Granted, it was for his best. What kind of life could she have given him anyway, a teenager in jail with no one in the world, no support system? She'd consoled with the fact that least he would have food and shelter, something that wouldn't be guaranteed to her after her sentence was over._

_But it hadn't made it hurt any less._

_These awful thoughts coupled with the horrible pain racking through her stomach did little to soothe her. She looked and felt like absolute crap, to put it lightly. She hadn't slept in days and she was sure that she looked awful, with tears streaming down her face and her hair pulled back in a sweaty knot._

_Something didn't feel right, this pain was different. Worse than last time. Pain, she could handle. She'd had her fair share of it, both emotionally and physically, throughout her life. But it wasn't that. She was literally paralyzed with fear. There was an overwhelming feeling that something was wrong with her baby. That she'd inevitably messed something up just as she'd expected she would._

_In the background, she was dimly aware of Hook's hand entwined in one of hers, his accented voice murmuring words intended to calm her down, but it wasn't working._

" _All right Emma, at the next contraction I want you to push as hard as you can." Doc called from his position at the foot of the bed. When she'd first heard that Doc, one of the iconic seven dwarves, was going to deliver her baby, she'd snorted with laughter._

" _No." Her voice was hoarse. "I can't." She_ hated  _feeling so weak and helpless. "I can't do this."_

_With the cold metal hook, he brought her face up to meet his, his eyes looking deeply into hers. "Yes you can." He squeezed her hand tightly and pushed back a sweaty strand of hair back._

" _No." She shook her head stubbornly. She didn't know what was holding her back; last time she'd just sucked it up. Maybe it was because this time, there was more at stake. The second her baby was born, she'd be responsible for her. And Emma was terrified at the thought of taking care of someone so helpless._

" _Yes, you can." Hook repeated. "It's going to be ok. I'm right here."_

_Before she could respond, the next contraction hit, causing an involuntary scream to fill the room. She could hear Doc's voice in the background, urging her to push. The room began to spin in a blur of tears. Her mind slowly filled with images of her somehow accidentally killing her baby. She couldn't do this._

" _Emma." Hook said in her ear. "You can do it. Do it for our baby."_

_Suddenly, she just let go. Pushed as hard as she could, a deafening scream escaping her lips as she fought through the pain and the mind-numbing terror._

_And then it was all over as a loud cry filled the room._

" _It's a girl!" Doc called out. As if they hadn't already known for weeks._

_Emma flopped back onto the bed, utterly exhausted as Hook pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You did it, love." His voice was thick with relief and happiness._

_As she caught sight of Doc walking towards her, a wide smile plastered on his, her eyes immediately fixated on the small, crying bundle in his arms. The bundle that was her kid._

_Something warm bloomed inside as he placed her daughter in her arms. Though she'd never so much as touched a baby before, she instinctively knew what to do._

" _Hey." She said softly, looking at her daughter for the first time. How could she have been so scared? As she admired her baby's small tuft of blonde hair, so similar to hers, and pressed a kiss to the smooth skin of her cheek she vowed that she would never abandon her._

_Never leave her behind._

* * *

Hook hung up the phone, feeling numb as he did so. In front of him, Ava played happily on the carpet with her bear, completely unaware of what had just happened.

Mary Margaret's words echoed in his head.  _Emma left. We've been trying to stop her but her mind was made up. I'm so sorry._

He'd known on some level all along that this would happen, since she hadn't shown any signs of remembering aside from that one night two weeks ago, but he'd been trying to squash any thoughts.

But there was no denying it any longer. So that was it, then. She was gone. Really, truly gone without a second thought. She really didn't remember him and Ava. What were they going to do? There was no telling how long Emma would be gone. How was he supposed to raise their daughter all on his own?

As if sensing his distress, Ava chose that moment to look up. "Where's Mama?" She asked. It was a question that she'd been asking all week, one that he'd managed to deflect in hopes that Emma would remember and come rushing back to them.

But now there was no more beating around the bush.

"Hey, princess." He walked over and scooped her up. "Daddy has to tell you something, ok?"

She nodded, her plastic tiara falling down from atop her blond curls as she did so. Aside from her bear, that was her favorite toy.

He quickly reached up and fixed it. The thought that this was an easy fix compared to everything else occurred to him. "Mommy's not coming back for a while." He started, his voice cracking as he spoke.

She just looked at him, her thumb automatically finding its way to her mouth, something she did when upset. "Why did Mama hafta go?"

"Um well...she had to go somewhere." Hook improvised. "Mommy still loves you very, very much. Both Mommy and Daddy love you. That will never change. But she's not coming home."

To her credit, she didn't immediately burst into tears. Maybe because she didn't fully understand.

"I'm sorry, Ava." He sighed. This was the worst thing he'd ever done, having to break a two year old's heart by telling her that her mother was essentially gone. Forever.

She began to pout, balling up her fists. "I want Mama."

"Me too."

"How long Mama gone?" She asked.

"I don't know." He responded. "I wish I did. But I don't."

She nodded and was silent for a long time. "I hope Mama come back soon." That was probably the longest sentence she'd ever said. Normally it'd be a cause for celebration, but not when it was such a sad statement.

"Me too, Ava." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Me too."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The first few days after Emma's departure were the hardest. To Hook, it was even worse than the first few days after Milah's death. At least then he could drown his sorrows with lots and lots of rum. But this time around, he had to put on a front for Ava.

This hurt more too; it wasn't anyone's fault that Emma was gone except for his. Milah had been  _murdered_ , while he could've prevented what happened to Emma. He almost wished she was dead. At least then he would've had closure. There was no really no telling how long she would be gone for, and it hurt Ava more than him.

Nights were the worst for both. At least Henry had a mother in Regina. He now stayed permanently with her. But Hook and Ava? Despite her incredible amount of maturity when she first found out Emma was gone, she didn't understand why her mother left her. The poor girl cried out every night for Emma, who had tucked her in every single night of her life with a baby blanket that looked identical to her own except it had a yellow ribbon and read Ava in careful stitching. Hook had tried everything he could to get her to sleep, but to no avail. He was resigned to just letting her cry until she was too exhausted to continue and fell asleep.

And Hook? When he  _did_ sleep, his dreams were haunted with her. Filled with images of her slowly dying, of her coming back, within grasp, only to leave again. He often awoke to find his arm outstretched as if reaching out for her.

* * *

Slowly, though, they got used to it. To make his days less lonely, Hook got himself a job as the new deputy, working with David who was now the sheriff. The two often spent their days laughing and joking together. In a way, it was almost like having Liam back.

Even his dreams were less haunting. He began to be able to sleep through the night again, though sometimes that required a few swigs from his flask. Many mornings he'd found himself clutching a pillow when he woke up. But at least he could sleep.

Ava turned three a couple months after Emma left. Now old enough for preschool, she spent her days with Storybrooke's youngest citizens. That did much to distract her and keep her busy enough that she was often too tired to miss her mother when she came home.

They were adapting, something that was inevitable but no less sad.

Emma called Mary Margaret every so often to talk. Hook learned from her that Emma was back to her old job as a bail bondsperson and was living in her old apartment in Boston. Much to his relief, she wasn't dating anyone.

When she did come to Storybrooke to visit Henry, they mainly went to Granny's and then the beach or something. Hook made sure to check in with Henry about where they were meeting and then steer clear of those places. He wasn't sure that he'd have enough self control to stop himself from tackling her if he saw her. He was often tempted to drive up and just sneak a quick glance at her but managed to refrain from doing so. It just hurt too much, being so close yet unable to see her.

* * *

(six months later)

Hook held Ava's hand as they walked into Granny's. It was a bright, clear Saturday and they'd decided to go to the park after lunch.

"Gwilled cheese!" She clapped her hands as they settled in their usual plastic booth.

He laughed. "Of course." A small pang of nostalgia flared; grilled cheese was Emma's go to meal as well. He squished it down as he did every time something reminded him of Emma; wallowing over the past would not help.

"Hi." Said a voice. Hook looked up to see Tinkerbell standing above them, pen held over a pad at the ready. "Can I take your order?"

"Hey." He said in surprise. "You work here now?"

"Yeah, I do." She responded. "Convent's not really for me. In case you haven't noticed I'm not really the traditional type of fairy."

"Very true." Hook agreed.

"So what'll it be? Oh wait, let me guess." She turned to Ava. "Ava here wants grilled cheese."

"Yep!" Ava beamed up at her, showing off her adorable little smile.

"I knew it." She laughed. "How's preschool?"

"Fun!" Ava replied. "I drawed a lot of pictures!"

"Oh, that sounds so cool!" Tink exclaimed. "I bet you're really good. You'll have to show me sometime."

"Kay!" Ava bobbed up and down excitedly in her seat.

Just then, the door dinged, signaling that it was being opened. Tink looked at the people who were beginning to trickle in, as it was lunchtime. "I should go. A grilled cheese for Ava and…?" She turned Hook.

"Same for me." He responded.

She nodded, tucking the pen and pad back in her apron. "Coming right up."

"Daddy I like her." Ava said after Tink left. "She nice."

Hook chuckled to himself; he could remember a time when Tink hadn't been so nice, when she'd threatened him with a dagger. But ever since she'd come back to Storybrooke with them her old, sweet personality that Regina had described that she'd once had was back. "Yes, she is."

"Is she my mommy?"

Hook froze.  _Um, what?_ Had he heard correctly? He looked over at Ava, who was staring at him.

"N-no, princess. She isn't." Why would Ava even ask something like that?

She cocked her head adorably. "But she looks like Mommy."

 _Oh._ Hook had to admit that Tink  _did_ resemble Emma quite a bit. Both had similarly slender frames and blonde hair.

It saddened him to think that Ava was already forgetting her mother. Granted, she was three. But there were pictures of Emma everywhere in their apartment and every so often they'd pull out the old photo albums. Hook wanted Ava to remember Emma so that when the day came that she finally regained her memories they'd be able to pick up where they left off and be a family again.

"Yes she does look like Mommy doesn't she?" He responded. "But you know what Mommy looks like."

Ava shrugged and turned back to her coloring book, scribbling messily over the unicorn's face. "Can she be my mommy?"

Hook nearly spat out a large mouthful of coffee. "Ava, honey, you already have a mommy." He explained patiently.

"Then why she not here?"

"Well..."

"Everyone else has a mommy. I want one too."

Luckily, their food came before she could say anything else, and Ava was soon distracted by the steaming plate before her.

But her words stuck with him all day. Later that night, after their day the park, after he'd tucked Ava in with her baby blanket and bear, as he sat down with his flask, her words echoed in his mind.

_"Everyone else has a mommy. I want one too."_

Clearly Ava was already beginning to forget Emma. It was something that he'd tried to prevent from happening but was ultimately powerless against.

What was going to happen as she grew older? Slowly her memories of Emma would be replaced with a faceless blonde stranger. It was already happening! She would soon only remember the idea of a mother. Emma would become a stranger that just inhabited many of the pictures on the walls.

He'd been hoping, wishing that Emma would regain her memories. Tried to continue with his life as if nothing was amiss. Waiting for Emma to come back.

But the truth was, he couldn't do that any longer. He had to face facts: Emma was not coming back. Her memories were really and truly gone for good.

Ava needed her mother. If Emma wasn't coming back, maybe it was time to go to her.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"I'm sorry." David placed his hands on his hips. "You want to do what?"

"Find Emma." Hook repeated. Up until thirty seconds ago, both had been seated in their chairs at the station, feet propped up on the table. It was another lazy day and neither felt the desire to catch up on the mountain of paperwork waiting.

Hook continued. "I'm one of the only ones who can leave Storybrooke."

"Because you weren't cursed." David nodded. His lips were pursed as he considered this.

Other than the fact that David was technically his boss, Hook didn't know why he'd felt the need to inform him of his plans. It was  _his_ life and Ava was  _his_ daughter.

"Ava needs her mother." Hook added. "On Saturday she mistook Tink for Emma."

David sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Not entirely unexpected. Still...you think this is the best idea?"

"Aye. That I do, mate."

He turned to face the pirate. "What's gonna happen when you show up and Emma throws you out? Or Ava runs up to her mother who doesn't recognize you? Wouldn't that hurt her even more?"

Hook had considered all of these points before. "We'll be careful. I'm not entirely sure of what to do but one things certain. I can't keep pretending that everything is fine."

"Still...there are so many risks."

"Risks I'm willing to take, mate." Hook said seriously. "I'm not asking your permission. I'm simply informing you because its the honorable thing to do."

Also because he needed the address of Emma's apartment from him and Mary Margaret. He figured Emma would've given her "friend" the address in case she ever visited.

David was quiet for a long time. Finally, he spoke up. "Say hello to my daughter for me."

* * *

Emma stuck her key in the lock and turned it, kicking off her boots as entered the large, immaculately decorated space. It had been a long day, full of hunting down dirtbags as she did day in and day out. While as sheriff she would usually get weekends off, only required to stay on call, she never got a day off as a bail bondsperson. That job didn't come with that luxury.

Not that she minded, of course. It was better than sitting around alone. While her apartment was nice, it just didn't feel like...home. Not like Mary Margaret's had.

 _Snap out of it, Swan._  She mentally chastised herself.  _This is for the best and you know it._

The few times she'd gone back to Storybrooke to visit Henry things had seemed very different. He'd been happy to see her but always seemed on the verge of revealing a secret. When probed, he just blew her off. Maybe he was just becoming a moody kid. Or maybe she should say teenager. How old was he? Eleven? He seemed to be very tall for eleven.

She'd learned from Henry that Mary Margaret was seeing David again. He'd even moved in, apparently. Sigh. She would just never learn, would she? Emma had talked on the phone with Mary Margaret a few times, but their conversations weren't how they used to be. Mostly they just exchanged a few stilted words. She knew Mary Margaret didn't approve of her decision to leave but still. It was done.

Later that week, she strode into a nice restaurant, on her way to another one of her fake dates with the criminals she chased down. It occurred to her that this mirrored the night she meant Henry. Emma looked down at her dress; the same one she'd worn that night. That sent a pang of nostalgia through her as she recalled the night in which her life had turned upside down.

As she sat down across from the soon to be jailbird, she engaged in fake small talk with him, already thinking ahead to a bubble bath and a glass of wine. He rambled on about himself, flashing a smile that he probably thought was charming while she wondered briefly why she'd given up her life in Storybrooke and a normal job to do  _this_ again.

"I enjoy long walks on the beach and I would never say no to sailing." He was saying, although all Emma could think was lie, lie, lie.  _More like I would never say no to embezzling._

Her eyes began to wander as she nodded and put on what she hoped was a flirty smile. "Then I guess you'll have to show me your boat sometime." She said absently. This fake flirting had become second nature to her.

Her eyes began to wander, landing on a family of three walking on the street outside the window next to her. The family was pretty nondescript. Mom, dad, and kid. But it was the daughter that caught her eye. The little girl, blonde hair pulled back in pigtails, walked with her parents on either side as she chattered happily. Each of her hands was clutched in theirs as she practically skipped down the street.

Suddenly, Emma stood up abruptly; the contents of the table spilled all over her dress and shoes. She could feel her stomach clenching, and to her surprise, tears threatening to spill.

"Um…" The man muttered, clearly taken aback. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes…" She muttered faintly, eyes still glued to the family walking away outside. For some odd reason, the sight of the little girl made her want to burst into tears. There was an inexplicably horrible hollow ache growing inside and she felt as though she was about to puke. "I should go." She said before dashing out of the restaurant, dimly registering that she'd just let the man go.

Outside, she took several deep breaths to calm herself down. What the  _hell_ had just happened? Since when did strangers elicit such a strange response? She was lonely, yes, but she'd never had such a strange reaction to a little girl before.

But there was something about that little girl...something that seemed so eerily familiar. Like something she'd lost.

* * *

"Where we goin?" Ava asked as Hook buckled her in her carseat in the back. As usual, her bear was clutched in one hand and she sucked her other thumb.

"We're going for a little trip." He answered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "It'll be fun, I promise."

"Kay."

They waved goodbye to Mary Margaret, David, and Henry as Hook slowly pulled the car out of its spot and onto the street.

Next stop, Boston.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

She'd been crying in her sleep again. Emma had woken up that morning to find her cheeks and pillow damp with what she assumed to be tears. For the past several nights she'd been crying in her sleep, her dreams full of visions of toddlers with blonde hair. In her dreams she'd hug the girl, until the girl was inexplicably torn away, leaving Emma alone.

This bore quite a resemblance to her recurring nightmare after having Henry. She'd constantly relive the day she'd been forced to give him up, often waking up crying out for him. Several months after giving birth to him, the dream had gradually stopped, occasionally recurring on Henry's birthday. But ever since she'd met Henry the dream had disappeared.

Why had a different version of this dream started? The first time she had it was a day a couple of months after she'd left. She'd woken up sobbing, feeling inexplicably hollow and numb for the whole day.

For a while, she'd thought that the little girl was herself; she bore an incredible resemblance to Emma, from her expressions to her hair. Only the little girl's eyes didn't match, as they were a deep blue instead of green like Emma's. Maybe she was subconsciously reliving being given back to foster care when she was three? But didn't seem to feel quite right. For one thing, an adult Emma hugged the little girl. Why would she be hugging a younger version of herself?

This new dream had stopped after a while, but it had clearly started up again, after seeing that little girl outside the restaurant a couple days ago. She'd probably triggered the dream somehow. But why? What was so significant about that little girl?

Feeling cranky and annoyed, Emma decided she needed a quick pick me up. She quickly showered and slipped out the door, heading for her favorite bagel place down the street.

Thankfully, the line moved fairly quickly and soon Emma was on her way, munching on a bagel with a coffee in the other hand. Maybe she'd go window shopping today, as she didn't have anybody to chase down. She couldn't help thinking that if she was back in Storybrooke she'd probably be shopping with Mary Margaret or hanging out with Henry.

Emma walked along the busy street, dodging people as she did so, sipping her coffee. Just then, her phone vibrated and she pulled it out, all while balancing her bagel and coffee. It was just a text from Mary Margaret asking how things were going. She was getting ready for a day with David.

 _Good._  Emma texted back. She resisted the urge to ask if David had wronged her again. Mary Margaret was her friend (her only one, actually) and it wouldn't help if she asked such a rude question. She could tell that David made her genuinely happy and really did love her, though he had a funny way of showing it.

Emma was so distracted by her phone that she almost missed the object lying on the street in front of her. Her left boot stepped on top of it before she realized what she was stepping on. She looked down to see a small stuffed bear lying on the concrete. By the looks of it, the bear was clearly loved; it showed signs of wear.

She bent down and picked it up, looking around. "Did anyone drop this?" She asked people passing by, but they shook their heads and continued walking.

Normally she would've just left it on the ground but there was something inside stopping her. She didn't want some poor little kid to go home without their bear, having known firsthand how important comfort objects were.

Her baby blanket wasn't safely tucked in her closet for no reason.

Emma examined the bear for any identification, though she knew the chances of there being an address was pretty slim. It was a stuffed bear, not a dog. As she did so, she was hit with a scent so strong she instantly grew dizzy. It was an eerily familiar scent, a combination of cinnamon, laundry detergent, and something else she couldn't quite place. Something that inexplicably reminded her of...pirates?

Just then, she heard the pitter patter of little feet behind her as someone approached. "Bear! I want my bear!" Cried a shrill voice. She sounded as though she was close to tears.

Emma turned around to see a little figure, presumably a girl, racing towards her. She was about a hundred feet away, and in the glare morning sun, was nothing than a faceless figure. All Emma noticed was that the girl had blonde hair pulled into a messy ponytail. A ponytail that was oddly similar to Emma's, actually.

"Hey, hey, hey." Emma said as the girl barreled straight into her. "Calm down. Where are your parents?"

The little girl stood in front of Emma, chin wobbling as she sobbed loudly, rubbing at her eyes. "Bear!" She sniffled.

Emma suddenly had the overwhelming urge to comfort her. She had to control herself from wrapping her arms around the little girl, reminding herself that when her parents arrived they wouldn't be very happy to see a stranger hugging their daughter. "Bear?" She kneeled down to the girl's height. "I found this on the ground. Is it yours?"

"Cinnamon!" The girl shrieked as she reached for the bear.

"Cinnamon, huh?" Emma chuckled. "That's a cute name." She studied the girl as she cradled the bear in her arms, her tears already disappearing. There was something eerily familiar about her, but Emma couldn't put her finger on it.

The little girl cradled her bear in her arms. "Thank you." She said, looking up at Emma with wide eyes.

Emma gasped loudly.

It was the girl from her dream.

* * *

Hook didn't really have a plan. He had her address and that was about it. He figured that he'd just play it by ear. Drive to Boston, locate her apartment, and then go from there. Except now they were there and just driving aimlessly around. He hadn't accounted for the fact that it was Sunday, and a very nice one. She might have plans and not be back for hours.

And what were they supposed to do, just show up? Maybe he should've thought this through.

"Daddyyyy." Came the voice of Ava from the backseat, interrupting Hook's thoughts. "I hungwy."

"Alright." He replied. He knew from experience that a hungry Ava meant a grumpy Ava. It'd probably be a good idea to grab some food and figure out what he wanted to do next. Out of sheer luck, he located a parking spot fairly quickly and unbuckled Ava from her seat. "C'mon, princess. Let's go find something to eat."

Ava trotted alongside him, her bear tucked under one arm as usual. He'd pulled her hair into a messy ponytail that morning, the only hairstyle he could manage; as a result she looked even more like a mini Emma than usual.

Boston was much more crowded than Storybrooke. Hook was no stranger to crowds, having frequented the loudest, most packed taverns back in the Enchanted Forest. And he'd successfully located Rumplestiltskin in New York. But navigating the crowds while keeping a tight grip on Ava's hand proved to be a challenge. It didn't help that Ava was clearly excited to be in a new place. She babbled happily as she practically skipped beside him, wide eyes taking everything in. He could barely stop her from running off ahead.

How was he ever supposed to find Emma in this place? By himself was one thing, but with Ava everything was more difficult.

Suddenly, a large crowd of people headed towards them from the opposite direction. Hook instinctively gripped Ava's hand harder as the crowd pushed through. It looked as though they were on their way to some event. All were dressed in similar colors.

"Bloody hell." Hook muttered as the crowd gradually dispersed. He was relieved to find that Ava was still clutching his hand.

But Ava wasn't so happy. She stopped abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk. "Cinnamon?" Her voice wavered. "Where's Cinnamon?" She looked around, turning her gaze up to Hook.

 _Oh, double bloody hell._ He cursed inwardly as he noticed her empty arms where her bear should be. She'd clearly dropped him when they'd pushed through the crowd.

"Cinnamon gone!" Her eyes widened.

"Don't worry." He said. "We'll find him." But he wasn't so sure; there were plenty of people on the crowded sidewalk. Anyone could've picked him up or threw him away.

"I want my bear!" She started to wail, drawing the attention of several passerbys.

Hook started to look around on the sidewalk, retracing his steps and asking people if they'd seen a bear. But it was futile, of course. Wherever Cinnamon was, he was long gone.

"I'm sorry Ava." He said heavily. "I'll buy you a new bear."

Her chin wobbled. "No! I want Cinnamon!"

"I'll buy you a better one." He promised.

"NO!"

Hook was flabbergasted. What was so important about this bear? "It's just a bear, princess."

"Nuh-uh." Ava shook her head vehemently. "It was from Mommy."

 _Oh. Of course._ How could have forgotten? That was the bear that Emma had picked out for Ava before she was born, her gift to her daughter. Ava had slept with it every night of her life and even named it after one of Emma's favorite things: cinnamon.

It was the only thing Ava had left of her mother.

"I know you're upset. But he's gone by now." He said gently.  _Just like your mother._ "I'll find you another one just like him."

"NO!" And with that, she ran off, disappearing into the crowd. "Bear! I want my bear!"

"Ava!" He immediately took off after her. "Come back!" He weaved through the crowd, keeping his eye on his daughter's blond ponytail. For a little girl, she could run  _fast._

People exclaimed in surprise as they had to dodge Ava at the last second, who seemed hell bent on retrieving her bear. If anything happened to her…

Soon she was no longer in sight. Hook stopped running, wheezing for breath as he scanned his surroundings. She was gone.

 _No._ A cold feeling began to spread. She couldn't be gone. She was the last thing  _he_ had from Emma. If she was gone, he'd truly be alone. Forever. "Ava!" He called desperately, earning looks from people passing by. "Have you seen a little girl with blonde hair?" With each "no, sorry", his heart began to drop further.

Numbly, he began walking in the direction he'd seen her last, praying that he'd see her. He couldn't lose her. She was everything to him.

There was a police station just down the block. He had just decided to head there and report Ava missing when suddenly he heard a familiar high pitched voice.

"Cinnamon!"

Was that a trick of his imagination, or had he really heard Ava? He began walking in the direction where he thought the voice had come from. "Ava!"

"Ava!" He cried in relief when he spotted her. She was about twenty feet away, standing on the street, cradling her bear. Across from her crouched a slim woman whose back was to Hook. Clearly, the person who'd found Cinnamon.

"Cinnamon, huh?" The woman laughed. "That's a cute name."

Hook's blood ran cold. No. It couldn't be.

* * *

Emma shook her head. She was going crazy. Probably from lack of sleep. Or maybe she was just psychic or something. She'd read something once about people seeing things in their dreams that happened to them the next day. That was it, right?

"C'mon." Emma held her hand out to the little girl. "We should go find your parents. I'm sure they're worried."

As if on cue, Emma suddenly heard loud, thumping footsteps. "Ava! There you are!"

She stood up saw a dark haired man rushing towards her. "Ava, huh?" She looked down at the girl. "That's a pretty name." For some reason, that name seemed to ring a bell. Maybe she had a foster sibling or a classmate named Ava.

"I'm so glad I found you." The man said as he scooped up Ava, burying his face in her hair. "Never run away like that again."

"I sowwy Daddy." Ava said, her voice muffled.

The man looked up and turned to face her. "Thank you so much." He said in a thickly accented voice. He held out his hand. "Killian. Killian Jones."

"Emma Swan." She responded. Emma blinked, momentarily lost in his deep blue eyes. Where had she seen that color before? "And it was...uh no problem." She stammered, suddenly at a loss for words.

 _Snap out of it!_ She mentally scolded herself. Sure, Killian was  _incredibly_ good looking. But she'd dealt with many of those before.

"No, really." He said. "I cannot thank you enough for finding my daughter. I must repay you in some way."

Why did he talk in such an old fashioned way? Whatever the reason was, she found it extremely attractive.

"It's fine." Emma shrugged. "Happy to help. I love kids."

Wait. Where had  _that_ come from? She wasn't exactly the biggest fan of kids. In fact, she had no idea where her sudden urge to help Ava had come from.

"I insist. Let me take you out for dinner."

"N-no, it's fine. Really." Emma tried to insist, having had  _way_ too much experience with creepy guys inviting her over, but he fixed her with a stare that she suddenly couldn't say no to.

What harm could a dinner do? And she'd get a chance to see adorable little Ava again. "What the hell. Ok."

"Great." He smiled.

Was it just her, or did he seem  _too_ happy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Side note, from this chapter on whenever Emma is thinking about Hook or if the story's being told from her POV I will refer to him as Killian. When the story is in Hook's POV I will refer to him as Hook. Hope this erases any confusion.
> 
> Any thoughts before you go?


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Hook was halfway back to the car when he realized how much trouble he was in. He'd invited Emma out for dinner. In a strange city where he knew no one.

Maybe he really should've thought this whole plan out a little bit more. Damn his impulsiveness.

But what was he supposed to do? Just let Emma walk away from him (again)? In this large city, he hadn't even been sure that he would even see her. He'd had to take what was possibly his one and only chance.

Except what was he to do now? They'd exchanged numbers (or rather they entered each other's numbers in their phones all over again) and he'd promised to call to set up a date. And then he'd left, Ava happily waving goodbye.

Huffing in frustration, he settled Ava in her car seat with her bear while he pulled out his phone and started dialing.

"Hello, Sheriff's station." Came the cheerful voice of David.

"Its me." Hook said.

"Hook!" David said, surprise evident in his voice. "What's up? Have you found Emma yet?"

"I have a problem."

"What is it?" David immediately grew concerned. "Is it Ava?"

"No." He responded. "I...ah." He paused. Never before had he had this problem. Back in the Enchanted Forest he only had to show up at a tavern for about a minute before multiple women nearly threw themselves at him. And his (first) courtship with Emma, well it wasn't traditional in any sense.

In other words he'd never been on a date.

"Did you find Emma?" David pressed.

"Yes...thats the problem. I may have inadvertently, how do you people from this land call it, invited her out for dinner."

"Well thats great! What's wrong with that?"

"I have no bloody idea what to do. Where to take her, what to wear...? This was a lot easier back in our land." He said, a note of panic creeping into his voice.

There was a long pause.

"Hello?" Hook called. "Are you still there, mate?"

"Yeah." David said, his voice sounding a bit odd.

It took Hook a moment to realize that he was laughing. "What do you find so amusing about this?"

David only continued to laugh. "Nothing...oh I'm sorry Hook. It's just...you're coming to me for dating advice?"

"Aye." Hook said, feeling uncharacteristically defensive.

"Haven't you ever been on a date?"

"No. Most of my dalliances began in a tavern and ended up back on my ship. Pirate, remember?"

"But wait. You  _have_ been on a date with Emma before."

"Aye, but that was when I already knew how she felt about me. This time I'm starting over. Need to make her fall for my devilishly handsome self all over again."

"True." David agreed. "Didn't consider that."

"So what am I to do?"

"Well, what did you do last time?"

Hook paused briefly, trying to remember. "A picnic on my ship and stargazing." What he didn't add was  _followed by a very intense makeout session._

David whistled. "You really pulled out all the stops, didn't you?"

"That I did." Hook agreed. "But it's not like I can do that again. I need to find some place to take her out to dinner. Someplace special but also suitable for Ava to come along."

"Yeah. Hmm. What about the Rainforest Cafe? I've never been, but David Nolan apparently had some memories of that place even though there wasn't one in Storybrooke."

"Rainforest Cafe." Hook repeated. "Is that in an actual bloody forest?

"Not exactly. It's fake. Seems pretty real but it's not. I think Emma would like it."

"Ok." Hook said uncertainly. "Guess I can try that."

* * *

Hook fiddled awkwardly with the collar of his shirt, before realizing how nervous that made him seem and forced his hand back down. He didn't remember the last time he'd been this anxious. This was weird, he never had trouble coming up with things to say before.

"So are you new around here?" Emma asked as she took a sip of her drink. "I don't think I've ever seen you, either of you, around here before." What she didn't add was that she thought she'd remember a pair of eyes like that if she'd seen them before.

"It's a big city, love." Hook teased but inside he was flustered; could she somehow sense who he really was?

"Yes true, but you don't seem like the city type. Seemed a little panicked today." She commented breezily.

"Aye, but I suppose that losing one's child will have that effect." He responded.

"Hmm. I suppose so, yeah. Never experienced that or anything…" She shrugged.

"You seemed like a natural with Ava."

Emma turned and smiled at Ava, who is doodling with a pink crayon firmly gripped in her wrist. "I don't normally do that."

"Do what?"

"Talk to children. Reminds me too much of…" She stopped, slightly horrified at her slip. Normally she was very good at hiding herself and giving breezy, superficial answers, but there was something about Killian that made her feel like she could trust him.

"Of what?" He pressed.

"Nothing."

There was a long pause. To his credit he didn't pry. Something not many men could claim to do.

"So what made you decide to move here?" She asked. "I'd say school but Ava doesn't seem old enough. New job?"

"Nope. Just needed a...change of scenery."

"A change of scenery." Emma nodded. "I can understand that."

"I take it by your tone you've moved around a lot?"

"Yeah. I've pretty much been all over the place. Never really stayed anywhere too long."

Hook nodded as though interested, although of course he already knew this. "Aye. I'm the same way; I've been everywhere on my ship."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "You have a ship?" For a moment she pictured Killian dressed in all leather, standing aboard an impressive looking ship that resembled something straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean, holding a spyglass to his eye. It was not a bad vision.

"Impressed?"

"Maybe." She replied. Was it just him or was her tone...flirty?  _Progress._ He thought with a note of triumph.

Just then, the waiter came back, pen positioned over a pad. "Hi. Can I take your order?"

Ava looked up from her crayons and turned to her father. "Daddy me want gwilled cheese."

Hook quickly scanned the menu. "Sorry, princess. Looks like they don't have it. But you can have a hot dog instead." He suggested, remembering with a pang the first time he'd heard of a hot dog. He'd protested that it was barbaric eating dogs, until Emma explained what it really was. Not that the truth was any better though.

Ava's face began to crumple. "No! Me want gwilled cheese!" She began to bang her fists on the table, her face quickly reddening.

"Ava!" Hook hissed, looking frantically around. "That's not how we behave in public."

She ignored him, continuing to protest. People were beginning to stare and Hook was growing more and more flustered. Usually he had no problem calming her down.

Emma seemed to feel his pain and spoke up. "Hey, Ava." She said loudly, causing Ava to turn and look at her.

"You know, grilled cheese is one of my favorite foods too." She smiled down at the toddler, who was staring at Emma with wide eyes. "I eat it like all the time so I get how upset you are. But we don't want to disturb these nice people right?"

Ava shook her head.

"Yeah, that's right. So how bout this? I'll make you a deal. You be a good girl and try a hot dog, which is super yummy too, and I'll make you a grilled cheese for lunch tomorrow. How does that sound?" Emma suggested.

"Promise?"

"I promise." Emma held out her pinky.

To her surprise, Ava knew what to do and expertly looped her pinky around Emma's. Smart kid. And just like that, a wide smile crossed Ava's face. "Yay!"

Emma turned to the waiter in triumph. "So she'll have a hot dog and I'll have a burger."

"Same here." Hook said, feeling stunned as the waiter walked away. "How did you do that?" He turned to Emma.

Emma shrugged blithely. "What, that? Eh it was easy."

"No, really." He insisted. "That was impressive; I've never calmed her down so fast before." And then he realized it was because it was  _Emma_ who was usually the one to soothe Ava's tantrums.

"I'm just that good." She responded.

"She likes you." Hook commented. When Emma opened her mouth to protest, he immediately interrupted. "She's never taken to someone like that before."

"Well, Ava's adorable." Emma reached over to ruffle the little girl's curls. "I like her too."

The rest of the meal went by smoothly, Hook feeding Emma an abridged version of his life. Minus a few crucial details, of course. Emma, however, remained mostly mysterious about  _her_ life. Not that Hook was too worried. He'd been expecting her to not divulge too many details.

"Thanks for dinner." Emma said as they exited the restaurant.

"Like I said, small price to repay for retrieving Ava's bear." Hook responded, holding the door open with the prosthetic hand he'd been forced to wear in lieu of his hook.

Ava tugged on the hem of Emma's coat until she looked down. She held out a piece of paper, looking almost shy. "Here." She thrust the paper at Emma.

Emma bent down to Ava's height. "What's this?"

"For you."

She took the paper and unfolded it to reveal a crayon drawing. "Aww. For me? Did you draw this?" She asked, touched.

Ava nodded. "Yeah! That's me and you and daddy!" She said excitedly, pointing at the figures on the paper. And it was, in fact, her, Emma, and Killian.

Emma blinked as she took in the fact that the taller blonde stick figure who had to be her and the dark haired stick figure were holding hands. Kids. Always trying to be matchmakers. "Thanks." She said. "I'll treasure this forever."

Ava reached out and hugged her, Emma hugging her back, her hair pressed to the top of Ava's head. Suddenly she felt so happy she could burst. But why?

"Come on, Ava." Killian said as he took his daughter's hand. "It's getting late."

Ava nodded. "Bye Emma! See you tomorrow!"

Kilian blinked. "Why? What's tomorrow?"

"Oh!" Emma realized. "Right. I'd promised her I'd make her grilled cheese."

"Oh, you really don't…" He started to protest but Emma held up a hand.

"It's fine. I'd love to." She smiled, surprised to find that she actually meant it. "It'll be fun."

"All right. If the lady insists." He replied. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Bye!" Emma waved. As they walked away, gradually growing out of sight, she couldn't keep the huge grin off her face.

A part of her knew that this was probably a bad idea, that Killian could be some pervert using his adorable daughter to lure her in. She'd dealt with plenty of scumbags like this, after all. This was not unfamiliar territory.

 _Really, Emma? Inviting them over?_ A voice inside screamed.  _Are you insane? You don't even know him!_

But there was this small nigging part that  _wanted_ Killian and Ava to come over, that wanted to see them again.

 _Eh. What's the harm?_ Emma told herself.  _I'll just make sure I have plenty of pepper spray on me._

Besides, she'd promised Ava. She couldn't break her promise.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Hook lay fully dressed in the hotel bed, mentally reliving the events of the past several hours. Ava had gone to bed long ago, tucked in with Cinnamon, but he'd lain awake. He couldn't believe that he'd actually pulled this off. It had been almost...easy. He'd been expecting a taciturn, closed off Emma, but instead she'd been surprisingly pleasant. Much more easygoing than usual.

Just then, Ava gave a little snort and rolled over.  _Of course._ He realized. It was Ava that had got her to relax, that had helped her feel comfortable. Well he was perfectly fine with playing the Ava card as long as it got him to Emma.

He already missed their banter, but he figured that that would come once they got to know each other a little better. Or rather when  _she_ got to know him better, as he already knew her better than she knew herself.

He smiled as he reached over to flick off the light, already looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

Emma sat on the couch, staring absentmindedly at the glowing screen of her TV. For the past several months she'd been obsessed with Peter Pan, even going as far as to buy the DVD just so she could watch it again and again. She'd been weirdly fascinated with Captain Hook, the ugly old codfish of all people, and had to suppress shudders when Peter Pan came strutting on screen. Twice she'd even had the urge to kiss Hook.

Her heart was pounding, and she kept staring at the clock. After she'd gotten home last night she'd texted Killian to come over at around 11:30. As time crept closer to 11:30, she felt her palms start to sweat. She was unable to sit still, dashing up repeatedly to clean something or put something away. Which was ridiculous, since she always kept her apartment spotless and relatively sparse.

Several times it occurred to her that maybe she was nervous because she actually liked him. In the past the people she'd dated, well she wouldn't call them dates. More like meaningless sex. Except with Killian she'd actually felt a little connection, a little spark.

She waved away that notion; she barely knew the guy so how could she like him? But maybe that was why she'd so impulsively accepted his dinner invitation and invited him and his daughter over.

 _It's just because of his daughter._ She rationalized.  _Ava's just really cute. That's why I invited them over. For Ava._

Right? There was no way she liked Killian. No way in freaking hell.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, causing Emma's heart rate to skyrocket even more.

 _Oh no._ She thought wildly.  _Did I remember to buy cheese? You can't have grilled cheese without cheese!_ But her fifteenth inspection of the fridge told her that she had in fact remembered cheese.

As she walked towards the door, her hand reached up to comb through her hair, and then stopped herself when she realized what she was doing.  _I shouldn't care what I look like._ She mentally scolded herself.

Emma was momentarily taken aback when she opened the door, greeted by the sight of Killian and Ava. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on him. Even in a simple pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt he was easily the most attractive man she'd ever seen.

"Umm.." Emma blinked, her throat suddenly dry.  _Get ahold of yourself!_ "H-hi.."

Killian smirked as if he knew of the effect he was having on her. "Hello, love." As he smiled lazily, Emma could swear her heart had stopped.

_Smug bastard._

"Hi Emma!" Ava waved from where she was standing next to her father.

"Hey." Emma said distractedly, her mind suddenly blank as she noticed the way his shirt showcased his  _very_ well defined arm muscles. She was surely gaping at him like an idiot but she couldn't bring herself to stop. His eyes. The black did wonders to highlight the deep blue color.

"Aren't you going to invite us in?" He asked, snapping her out of her trance.

"Oh! Right." She stepped backwards, looking away in attempt to hide her surely flaming cheeks. Since when had someone had that effect on her? "Come on in."

They followed her into the apartment and she closed the door behind them. "Food should be ready in a bit." She grabbed the remote and turned to a random kid's channel.

"Sesame Street!" Ava cried as Elmo came onto the screen.

"Make yourself comfortable." Emma said as she gestured to the couch. "I'll just be right back." She headed to the kitchen, intending to use her feel minutes alone to compose herself

"I'll help." Killian started to follow her.

"No I got it." Emma started to say, but he interrupted.

"You found my daughter's bear and saved me from what would've been undoubtedly been a  _very_ embarrassing night. The least you can do is to let me help prepare our meal." As he spoke, he stepped closer and closer, that smug grin still on his face, his eyes glittering playfully.

She shrugged, hoping to hide her quaking nerve. "Ok. If you insist."

"That's a good lass." He replied, setting a large grocery bag onto the counter.

"What's that?" Emma nodded at the bag.

"I brought chips." He pulled out a large bag of Barbecue Lays. "I thought they would go well with the grilled cheese."

"You're damn right about that!" Emma exclaimed. In fact, she'd been planning to go out and buy them but she'd forgotten. "I always have grilled cheese with Barbecue Lays. How'd you know?"

He smiled knowingly. "I'm quite perceptive."

"Sure." She said dryly. "Sure." Emma smiled at the large bag. "But seriously, thanks!"

He nodded. "No problem."

Emma started rooting through her cabinets. "Um, can you get the cheese and butter out of the fridge?"

"Sure." There was the telltale sucking sound of the fridge opening and then loud shuffling. "Bloody hell, lass." Killian looked up at her, amusement written over his face. "You could do with a little reorganizing. It looks like a storm blew through in there."

"Yeah, well." Emma replied. "Too much work. Besides I never keep much in there."

"Aye, I can see that." He commented as he bumped against the fridge door, closing it. "Where do you want these?"

"Just set them on the counter." Emma instructed. When she turned around to grab the butter, she frowned. "Umm, what is this doing here?" She held up the powdered sugar.

"Oh." Killian reached up and scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, I just figured you might need it."

"How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That powdered sugar's my secret ingredient for the perfect grilled cheese. Figured that out on accident." Emma's eyes were wide with amazement. "Nobody I know does that. Except for me."

"Well maybe I just read your mind."

"Uh huh. I'm sure you did."

"Looks like that's one more thing we have in common, because I do the same as well." Killian winked. "An old friend taught me that particular little trick." He said, staring meaningfully at her for a moment.

For the strangest reason, Emma felt as if he was referring to  _her._ "I'll bet they were pretty amazing, then."

"Aye. That they were." He slowly reached his hand inside the bag of powdered sugar, dipping a finger in.

"Hey!" Emma reached over and smacked his arm. "Don't contaminate it."

"Oh, come on." He responded, licking his finger slowly, his eyes still on hers. "Lighten up."

In response, Emma smacked his arm again, rolling her eyes before turning back to the stove. A little while later, she was setting a plate full of grilled cheeses on the table while Killian emptied the bag of chips into a large bowl.

"Do you want some juice, Ava?"

The little girl looked over and nodded.

Emma turned to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of grape juice, reaching into the cabinet for a cup. It was only until she was setting the cup full of purple liquid when she realized what she'd done. "Oh. Wait. I probably should've asked what kind of juice you wanted. You ok with grape juice?"

"I like gwape juice!" Ava grabbed the cup and took a large swig, grinning happily.

"Aye, that's her favorite." Killian added.

Emma blinked, surprised. "Oh, um. Ok. That's good." Weird. It was like she'd acted on autopilot or something, like she'd inherently known what type of juice Ava liked best.

They sat down to eat, Ava propped up on a stack of couch cushions. She'd placed her bear next to her plate on the table, facing everyone so it looked as though he was part of the group. It was so cute Emma wanted to take a picture.

"So...what do you think?" She asked as she watched Ava take a large, sticky bite out of the sandwich. "Is it the best thing you've ever tasted?"

Ava nodded emphatically, her messy curls bouncing wildly. "Yummy!"

"Told ya." Emma smiled triumphantly as she reached for a handful of chips. "Powdered sugar does wonders." She opened her sandwich and began arranging the Lays inside. "What?" She said, upon catching Killian's amused smile.

"Does it really taste good like that?"

"Uh,  _duh_." Emma's voice oozed sarcasm. "Try it." She nudged the bowl of chips closer to him. "Really, it's good."

"I have no doubt." He smirked but did so anyway. "The food in this world is so weird."

"This world, huh?" She frowned. "You make it sound as though you're from the Enchanted Forest or something."

Something changed in his expression, though it was so fast she couldn't get a read on it. "Something like that."

There was something weird about the way she was staring at her. Suddenly uneasy, Emma turned to Ava. "So, you're in...what? Preschool?"

The toddler nodded. "Yeah!"

"Yeah? What's that like?"

"Fun!"

"Fun, huh? What do you do?"

"I draw pictures."

"Right." Emma nodded. "Like the one you gave me." She gestured at the fridge, where it hung right in the middle, in a place of honor. "You're a really good artist."

Ava beamed. "I like to draw." Crumbs were splattered across her face and the front of her sweatshirt.

"Really? Well as you can see my fridge looks a little empty. Do you want to draw me something else?"

"Kay!" Came the cheery response.

Soon enough, lunch was finished. "Want to watch a movie while your dad and I clean up?" Emma suggested.

Ava nodded as she tucked her bear under one arm again. "Okay." She slid off her seat.

"Come on." Emma took the little girl's hand and led her to the couch. "Hmm. I don't have many kid's movies. Except for this, of course." She held up Peter Pan. "How do you feel about this?"

Ava nodded, wide eyed. "Peeta Pan!"

Emma laughed. "You like this movie too, huh?" She settled Ava on the couch, covering her with a throw she kept on the couch. "Me too. It's one of my favorites. I watch it all the time. Who's your favorite character?"

"Tink."

Emma wrinkled her nose. "Really? You like  _Tinkerbell_?"

"Yeah. She's nice."

"Ehh. Not really. She's a bit of a pathetic little jealous bit…" Emma stopped herself upon realizing who she was talking to. She chuckled nervously. "Don't like her."

"Nuh-uh." Ava nodded violently. "She's nice. She's my friend."

"Oh so you know this Tinkerbell?"

"Yeah. I like her."

"Oh, wow. You really have a sense of imagination don't you?" Emma commented as she stood up.

Ava, having no idea what she'd just said, nodded, her eyes already focused on the movie.

"Oh, hey you really don't have to do that." Emma protested as she saw Killian turning on the faucet, sponge already in hand.

"It's fine." He responded.

"Really. You're a guest. I can't make you do the dishes."

"Relax. I'm doing them because I want to."

Emma wrinkled her nose. "Who wants to do the dishes?"

"A gentleman."

"Not the ones I've met."

"Well, perhaps, Emma." He stopped and looked at her, his eyes seriously. "You've been interacting with the wrong ones. They don't sound much like gentlemen to me."

"Really?" She placed her hands on her hips. "And I suppose you're telling me that you're a perfect gentleman?"

"Aye. A good man should happily do things for a lady. It's a fundamental rule."

"Where'd you get that from? Because in case you haven't noticed that doesn't exist in this world."

"And that," He began, turning back to the sink. "Is a real shame. Because all women deserve to be treated like so. Especially ones like yourself."

She blinked, already feeling her face turning red. Damn, what was it about Killian and his ability to make her blush? To hide her face she grabbed the rest of the dishes from the table.

"Your daughter sure has a sense of imagination."

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, she has this idea that Tinkerbell is really nice."

"And your issue with that is…?" He turned around, raising an eyebrow.

"Is that Tinkerbell isn't nice."

"And how would you know that?"

"Oh, come on." Emma protested. "Not you too!"

"Not what?"

"You can't seriously think that Tinkerbell's nice. I've seen this movie like a thousand times and each time I watch all I see is a pathetic little fairy who is so hung up on Peter Pan that she almost gets a whole bunch of people killed. Jealous bitch."

"Wow." Killian whistled. "You really don't like her do you?"

"No. I can't stand girls like that."

He smirked. "It's just a movie, love."

"It's more than that. It's what it represents, telling little girls that it's ok to be so completely obsessed with a guy that they can't see the truth."

"The truth about…?"

"Her little crush! For one thing, Peter Pan's a bit of a jerk. Toying with Tink and Wendy like that. But it's not just that. Tink shouldn't let Peter Pan make her so upset that she's blinded by her rage. That's weak and sickening, to show a girl whose entire world revolves around a guy. Not to mention wrong. Girls should be stronger than that." Emma ranted.

"You would know, wouldn't you?"

She stared strangely at him. "What's  _that_ supposed to mean?"

He turned away. "Nothing."

"No." She touched his arm. "Tell me. Tell me what you think you know about me?"

"Not think. I can read you like an open book, lass. I can tell that you've been abandoned by someone you cared very deeply about, which is why you're finding faults in a children's movie. It reminds you too much of yourself."

A hard knot began to form in the pit of her stomach. He was edging too close to the truth for comfort. How did he even know that? Was it that obvious? Emma looked away. "You're wrong."

He smiled. "Am I?"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

After his little comment, Emma found it hard to stand next to Killian. There was something about him that was unnerving. All of his little comments, his looks, like he knew her or something. Totally ridiculous, since they'd met only two days ago.

Maybe he was a spy, sent from the family of someone she'd to jail to kill her. But he didn't really give off that vibe.

"So if you don't like Tink then who's your favorite character?" Killian asked, effectively breaking through her train of thoughts. "Pan?"

Emma shuddered despite herself. "Oh, God no." She responded. "He's a smarmy little git who likes to toy with girls."

Killian nodded. "Ah. I see."

"There's something about him too. I know he's the hero of the movie and all but the way he treats everybody pisses me off. I don't really know how to describe it though.

"Like he's a bloody little demon or something."

Emma looked over, surprised. "Yes. Exactly."

"I happen to agree with you. Pan is evil." He said, his voice hard. It almost seemed as though he had some sort of personal experience with Peter Pan.

"Yeah, no, my favorite character is, believe it or not…"

Just then, she was interrupted by a loud shout. "Daddy!" Ava cried, pointing at the screen.

Emma frowned, attention diverted to the TV. "What?"

Ava was pointing at the infamous villain of Peter Pan strutting about the screen clad in the iconic red tunic. "Daddy!"

She turned to Killian, amusement causing the corners of her mouth to rise. "Wait. She thinks  _you're_ Captain Hook?"

Oddly enough that wasn't a bad comparison. Considering her recent fascination with the villain.

He chuckled. "Aye, that she does."

" _Why?_ "

He shrugged. "Guess Ava thinks I'm as devilishly handsome as Captain Hook."

"Uh huh." Emma responded dryly. "I'm sure she does. You know, because three year olds are oh so attuned to how people look."

"What about you?" He asked. "What do you think?" His face was suddenly too close to hers, his blue eyes dancing playfully. Emma had the sudden, wildly inappropriate urge to kiss him. And stranger even, it seemed like he wanted her to.

"I think…" She began softly. "That you should finish drying the dishes." She finished, throwing the dish towel at him.

He caught the towel, grabbing for a plate. If he was disappointed he didn't show it. "So you never did tell me? Who's your favorite character?"

"Oh, umm…" Emma hesitated. If she said it was Hook Killian would surely accuse her of saying so because she found him attractive or something like that. Which she totally didn't, of course. "Tiger Lily." She settled on, feeling lame.

His wink told her that he didn't believe her.

* * *

_It was a rainy Sunday and Ava was growing fussy. They'd promised to take her to the park but it was out of the question, as it was storming like a freaking bitch._

_Emma had decided to use the day to catch up on paperwork, but she couldn't concentrate with the sounds of a crying Ava filling the apartment. If Henry had been there he could've entertained his sister but it was his week with Regina._

_Hook was growing desperate. "Wanna build a castle with your blocks?" He suggested._

" _No!" Ava shouted, throwing a couple of blocks at him. One bounced off his forehead; Emma had to stifle a giggle at Hook's disgruntled expression. Ava crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest. It was such an Emma move that would've been very funny if they weren't so frustrated over her bad mood._

" _Come on, Av." Hook said. "I know you're disappointed that we can't go to the park but we can still have fun here."_

" _No!" She repeated. "Wanna go to park!" Ava started screaming, her face turning bright red as she clenched her little fists._

" _I know." Hook said patiently. "But it's raining. Want me to read something from Henry's storybook? I know you like that."_

_She ignored him, continuing to scream and cry._

_He sighed, throwing Emma a hopeless look. "I tried."_

_It was days like this that Emma wished her daughter wasn't as stubborn as she was. She pushed back her chair. "Here. Let me try." She crossed the room and picked up Ava. "Sweetie, I know you wanted to go to the park. Believe me, I'm as mad as you are. But throwing things at Daddy isn't going to help."_

" _Park! Park!"_

_She started walking around the room with her daughter in her arms in an attempt to calm her down. "Shh. It's ok. We'll go another time, I promise."_

_But that wasn't helping. Ava's cries grew louder and louder with each passing second. If she didn't stop soon Emma was afraid she'd lose her voice._

_Just then, she had an idea. Spying a DVD left out on the coffee table, she walked over and picked it up. "How would you like to see something funny?"_

_At the word "funny" Ava looked up. "Funny?"_

" _Yes." Emma motioned to Hook and handed him the DVD._

_He scowled at its cover. "Really, love? Peter Pan?" After their return from Neverland Emma and Henry had forced him to watch it and he'd complained (rather childishly too) the entire time about how inaccurate it was. Then they'd watched it again with Tinkerbell, whose reaction had been about the same as Hook's._

" _Just put it in!" Emma hissed._

_He shrugged and shuffled over to the DVD player. It took him several tries to turn it on, something that made Emma roll his eyes. He'd mastered texting but still had trouble turning on simple appliances. Go figure._

" _Watch this." Emma said as she fast-forwarded to the part she had in mind. She sat down on the couch and settled Ava in her lap._

_Ava stared at the screen, her expression bored._

" _What are you trying to…" Hook started, but Emma interrupted him._

" _Just trust me. She'll love it." And then she found the part she was looking for. "Look!" Emma cried as the iconic Captain Hook came onto the screen. "That's Daddy!"_

" _Oh bloody hell." Hook turned away in disgust._

_Ava's face scrunched up in confusion. She looked up at her mother. "Daddy?"_

" _Yes." Emma bit her lip to keep from giggling. "That's Daddy." She pointed at the screen. "Well, really that's Captain Hook. But since your father's Captain Hook…"_

" _No." Hook muttered. "That's an unattractive imbecile."_

" _Oh, shush. Don't be such a baby." Emma responded playfully as Ava began to giggle. "See? She likes it!"_

" _Hook ugly!" Ava cried._

" _Oh, yes." Emma winked at an annoyed looking Hook. "Yes he is."_

_But underneath his scowl she could see that he was happy that Ava had finally cheered up. He reached over and scooped her up. "You like having a good laugh at my expense, don't you?"_

_Her loud giggles told him that she did in fact love it. "Daddy ugly!"_

" _Oh, you think Daddy's ugly? Well you look just like Daddy which makes you ugly as well."_

" _Nuh uh." Ava shook her head. "Ava pwetty!"_

" _Aye, princess." Hook responded, shooting a glance at Emma. "You're pretty just like your mother."_

_Emma rolled her eyes, playfully sticking her tongue out at him. "Liar."_

_From then on, Peter Pan was Ava's favorite movie._

* * *

Later that night, Emma sat on the couch with a steaming mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon. As usual, Peter Pan was playing on her TV once more.

After Ava's outburst, Emma was beginning to find Captain Hook more and more attractive. Appearance wise, he was nothing like Killian of course. But there  _were_ the similarities. Like how both were determined. Hook to defeat Peter Pan and Killian to take care of Ava, to be a good father. She'd never met a man quite like him, who cared about his kid so much and it was very refreshing. On the outside he may seem like any random man who used his looks and charisma to attract women but Emma was beginning to see that he was different.

Oh God. What was she  _saying_? She was  _not_ attracted to Killian.  _You've been down this road before, Emma._ She reminded herself.  _And it only leads to heartbreak. You know that. Men are good for nothing but a good distraction._

Just then, her phone beeped. Emma reached over and looked at the screen, greeted by the sight of a new text. Expecting something from Mary Margaret, she was surprised to find that it was from Killian.

Or rather, more correctly it was from Ava. She opened the text to find a picture of a grinning Ava and her bear, Cinnamon with a caption that read: we miss Emma!

She smiled, something warm blooming inside as she looked at the picture. Ava was just so damn cute.

 _Really?_ Emma wrote back.  _Using your daughter? Smooth, Jones._

Almost immediately there was a reply.  **What can I say? She's as irresistible as I am.**

She rolled her eyes.  _You're quite self centered._

**But you didn't disagree.**

Emma could practically hear the smarmy grin in his voice.  _Not the point here._

**Yes, it is.**

_Whatever helps you sleep at night._

**So when can I see you again?**

_Um, you just left._

**Your point? As you can quite clearly see, Ava misses you.**

_Just Ava?_

**Maybe.**

_Whatever you say, dude._

**So when can I see you again?**

Wow. He was nothing if not persistent.  _We'll see._ Emma texted back.

**I knew you missed us too.**

_Keep telling yourself that._ She wrote, and then turned off her phone. It was getting late and she had a long day of chasing criminals ahead of her. As her phone powered down, she realized her heart was pounding and she couldn't stop smiling. Dammit, he was making her act like a teenager with a crush.

 


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

If there was one thing Emma hated, it was shopping. She liked to think it was because she was the no fuss type, perfectly ok with wearing the same thing everyday. Which she did pretty often, actually. Mainly because she was usually too lazy to do laundry.

Of course, she knew that deep down her hatred of shopping stemmed from the fact that she'd never been able to afford any of the nice clothes that she wanted. As a foster kid she had been lucky that she even  _any_ clothes, let alone nice ones.

But when Killian called and asked her to take Ava shopping, as she was outgrowing all of her clothes ("growing faster than a bloody weed", to put it in his words), she immediately agreed.

As agreed, he came over around 11 to drop her off. "Thanks again for doing this."

"Yeah, no problem. I love shopping." Emma lied.

He immediately smirked. "No, you don't."

"Yeah, no I don't." Damn him and his ability to read her like a book. "But I'm happy to do this for Ava."

As if on cue, Ava came bounding into the apartment. "Hi Emma!" She cried.

"Hey, Av. Ready to go pick out some new clothes?"

Much to her surprise, Ava stuck out her tongue. "No."

"You don't like shopping, do you?"

Ava shook her head wildly. "Yuck. Shopping boring."

"Wow, what do you know? Me too. But we have to go, so how bout this? If you're a good girl we'll go get ice cream after. Deal?" She held out her pinky.

Ava's eyes widened. "Ooh. Can we get choclit?"

"Sure. Whatever you want." Who knew the key to Ava's heart was through her stomach?

Ava looped her pinky through Emma's. "Ok." She grabbed Emma's hand. "Bye Daddy!"

"You're welcome to come, if you like." Emma offered.

"I'd really rather not." He responded. "Shopping is quite repulsive. Besides it'd be fun for you and Ava to spend the day together.

Emma was about to question his strange statement when Ava spoke up. "Byeeee Daddy." She repeated.

"Somebody's impatient." Killian chuckled. "Bye Av. Be a good girl."

* * *

"So. Your daddy said that you need a new jacket." Emma frowned as she perused the rack of raincoats hanging in front of her in the children's section of Macy's. "Which one do you like?"

In response, Ava wrinkled her nose.

"None of these, I see. Well too bad you kinda need one." She looked at the coat Ava was currently sporting, which was a bit shorter than normal. Clearly she needed a new one. For some reason the coat Ava wore looked familiar, almost like something Emma herself had picked out for someone before. Huh.

Emma sifted through the rack again. "What's your favorite color?"

"Yellow."

"Hey, me too!" Emma replied. "That's why I drive a yellow car." Also because she couldn't bear to part with it, but she wasn't going to admit that. "What about this?" She held up a bright yellow raincoat in front of the little girl.

"Ick."

"You're really picky, aren't you?" Emma placed the coat back on the rack. "How bout this?" She held up a different jacket.

But Ava's attention had been diverted to a loud video playing on the screen mounted to the wall above.

"Ava." Emma dragged the stubborn toddler back. "Come on. I know this isn't fun but the faster we get this over with the sooner we can have ice cream. Now, which jacket do you like?"

"Dat one." Ava pointed at Emma's arm.

"What…" Emma looked down. "Which one are you…oh." She realized. "You want a leather jacket like mine?"

Ava nodded. "Yeah. Pwetty."

"Aww, you think so? Thanks." Emma laughed. "Well I'm sorry, but I don't think they make leather jackets in your size."

Ava began to pout. "I want one."

"But…" Emma said quickly before Ava could start whining. "What if we find one that looks similar to mine?"

She smiled adorably. "Kay."

Whew. Crisis averted. For now.

Ava was remarkably calm when looking for shirts, picking out several on her own. Same with jeans. But when they got to shoes she was beginning to show signs of boredom.

"Hmm. Your daddy said he wanted you to get new shoes. Which do you like?" Emma asked as she led Ava through the shoes.

"No shoes." Ava replied, taking a seat on one of the comfy chairs, swinging her legs back and forth. She stuck her thumb into her mouth.

Emma sighed. Kids were so difficult.

"Ava. You have to pick a pair." Emma grabbed a pair of pink sneakers along with a pair of pink Ugg boots. Little girls all like pink right? "Do you like these?" She asked.

"I don't like pink." Ava huffed. "Can we get ice cweam now?"

"Not until we get you a pair of shoes. So the sooner we get them, the sooner we get ice cream. Ok?"

"Ok."

Emma walked through the shoes once more, grabbing several pairs in anything but pink. Weirdly she and Ava were pretty similar with their distaste of pink. "How about these?" Emma asked her, holding up a pair of black Uggs.

Ava thought about it for a moment, little finger tapping on her chin. Emma crossed her fingers, hoping she'd say yes to these.

"Ok." Ava nodded. "I like those."

 _Phew._  Finally. "Good choice. I like them too."

"Can we get ice cweam now?"

Damn, she was persistent. "Of course, we just need to pay for all this stuff."

Emma set the vast amount of clothing on the counter, along with the black uggs and a pair of sneakers she managed to convince Ava to get.

"Will that be all?" The cashier asked. She was a matronly looking woman with silvery hair and a kind smile.

Emma nodded, pulling out the wad of cash Killian had given her.

"We're gonna get ice cweam." Ava happily told the cashier.

"Oh really?" The cashier asked with a smile as she removed the security tags from a coat that was indeed very similar to Emma's leather jacket.

"Yeah. Choclit."

"Awesome. That's my favorite." The cashier replied.

"That's Daddy's favorite too." Ava babbled.

"Here you go." The cashier handed Emma her bags. "Your daughter is beautiful."

Emma blinked. "Oh, um, she's not my daughter." She stammered.

The cashier raised an eyebrow. "Really? Wow. You could've fooled me. You two look quite a bit alike."

"Oh, because of the hair?"

The cashier shook her head. "No. Not just that, at least. You and her have the same face shape. Nose too. And the look in your eyes. You sure you're not related?" She asked teasingly.

 _Awkward._ "No she's just a friend's kid."

The cashier nodded. "Oh I see. Sorry about that." She handed Emma the bags. "Have a nice day."

"You too." Emma called as she took Ava's hand. "Ready for ice cream?"

"Yeah!"

As they walked down the street, Emma was struck by how oddly  _normal_ this seemed, walking with Ava, her little hand clasped in Emma's bigger one. And not just that. They interacted so easily, something Emma didn't think was possible as she was usually terrible with kids.

If she didn't know better she'd think she'd met Ava before.

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of these thoughts. She was being ridiculous.

They reached the ice cream parlor that Emma frequented fairly quickly. As it was a nice day, there was a long line.

"Did you have fun today?" Emma asked.

Ava shook her head.

"Yeah, figured. Shopping's pretty boring, isn't it? But now you have lots of new clothes to look pretty in."

Soon they reached the front of the line. "Let me guess. You want chocolate?"

"Yep!"

"Two chocolates." Emma told the bored teenager behind the counter.

"That'll be 5.75."

She handed her the money and soon they were out of the crowded store.

"Yummy!" Ava said as she licked her cone.

"I can see you're enjoying it." Emma laughed. Half of the cone was dribbling messily down Ava's face.

They headed back to Emma's apartment, where she sat Ava down on the bathroom counter to clean the brown smears from her face.

"Holy crap." Emma laughed. "Half of the ice cream's on your face. Did you even eat any of it?" She ran a warm washcloth down the little girl's face. "There. All good." She lifted Ava up and set her on the floor. "What do you want to do till your dad gets here?"

"Draw!"

"Ok, then." She settled Ava in the kitchen with a pad of paper and her crayons. Emma was about to go and dig up something for dinner when there was a tug on her sleeve.

"Draw wif me." Ava held out a red crayon.

"Oh. Um, I don't know. I'm not really that good at drawing." But she couldn't say no to the earnest little look on Ava's face so she grabbed a piece of paper and sat down across from her.

"What are you drawing?" Emma craned her neck to see what Ava was working so hard on, her little nose scrunched up in concentration.

Ava covered her paper with her arms. "It's a secret!"

"It's a secret, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah. Alrighty then." She felt silly, drawing with a crayon, something she hadn't done since she was a kid. She settled on randomly doodling a bunch of cats. Fairly easy enough.

Drawing was more fun than she remembered and pretty soon there was a knock on the door.

"How was shopping?" Killian asked as Emma let him in.

"It was...an adventure."

"Daddy!" Ava cried as she spotted her father. She immediately ran over, clutching several drawings in her fist.

"Hey, princess." He scooped her up. "How was your day with Emma?"

"Fun."

"That's good. Did you get lots of new clothes?"

She nodded. "For you." She held out one of her drawings.

"Thank you. It's beautiful." He said as he tucked it into his pocket. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Bye Emma!" Ava called.

"Thanks again." Killian said as Emma walked them to the door. "Really, you have no idea how thankful I am to you."

"It was nothing." Emma responded. "Ava and I had fun, right Av?"

Ava nodded. "We got ice cweam."

"See? Besides you probably saved me from an inevitably boring Saturday."

"Well then. How would like me to save you from a boring Sunday?"

"A-are you asking me out? Again?"

Killian shrugged. "Perhaps I am."

"I don't know." Emma replied. Spending more time with him sounded amazing, but there was this part of her that wondered if it was such a good idea. She still knew  _nothing_ about him.

"Come on, love. You can show me around this bloody confusing city. Nearly got lost twice today."

"Directionally challenged I see."

"Finding my way around, perhaps. But you'll find that I'm not challenged at all when it comes to, ah, other more enjoyable activities." He raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Want a demonstration?"

"Do you always flirt with women who take your daughter out shopping?"

"Just the pretty ones. So what do you say?" His eyes glinted amusedly.

"We'll see." Emma responded. "Bye Ava." She closed the door after them, already thinking ahead to a long, hot shower when there was the sudden pitter patter of tiny feet followed by a frantic knock on her door.

"Ava?" She asked in surprise. "Did you forget something?"

In response, Ava held out one of her drawings. "For you."

"Another one?" Emma bent down to Ava's height. "Thanks! It'll go nicely with the other one."

Ava smiled shyly. Suddenly she reached out and wrapped her arms around Emma. "Thank you."

Oh. Um, ok. She hadn't been expecting this, but it felt nice. "For what?"

"Shopping."

"Aw, don't worry about it. It was fun."

And then Ava did something that made Emma's heart nearly stop. She stepped forward and kissed her cheek. "Bye Emma." She said before toddling back to where Killian was waiting.

* * *

Later that night, the cashier's words ran continuously through Emma's head.

" _Really? Wow. You could've fooled me. You two look quite a bit alike."_

Sure, she and Ava both had blonde hair. And maybe a similarly shaped chin, if you squinted your eyes and tilted your head. But that was it.

But about the cashier's comment about the "look in their eyes"? Whatever that meant. Maybe she'd been alluding to both of their bored expressions. Now that she could understand.

Emma stifled a yawn as she rolled over, already falling asleep. The last thought running through her mind before she succumbed to exhaustion was that it wouldn't be so bad if Ava was really her daughter.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you asking about why Ava doesn't recognize Emma, just go with the excuse that she was too little and isn't that great with recognizing faces. But do notice that she is clearly drawn to Emma, so she does feel a connection with her even though she doesn't know who she is. I know it's a thin excuse but I completely overlooked this plot hole when I was planning the story out.

Chapter 19

Hook could barely believe how well this was going. In a mere week he'd made significant inroads with Emma. It was hard enough the first time (how many times did they have to get hurt and nearly die before realizing their feelings for each other) but now? Much easier than expected.

She'd bonded fairly quickly with Ava, something he hadn't foreseen. He hadn't known how much she liked kids but she seemed to have taken a liking to the little girl. Emma's mere presence was working wonders with Ava, who seemed much happier than she'd been in ages.

Except now there was the problem of him. He hadn't dared to turn on his full charm yet, afraid that it would scare her off. She'd told him quite a bit about her past and from what he knew his dashing personality wouldn't be enough to win her over (again). No, he had to get to know her. All over again. Get her to see their connection.

Emma and Ava had gotten to know each other and now it was his turn.

* * *

"So how's everything going?" Mary Margaret asked as Hook trudged through the door to their apartment, arms full of Ava's things.

"Good." He grunted as he set the quite heavy bags down. Just how many clothes had they bought? "Better than I'd expected. Ava's been talking nonstop about Emma."

As if on cue, Ava came bounding into the apartment. "Hi Gwandma! Hi Gwandpa!"

"Ava!" David immediately swooped her up and swung her into the air. "We missed you."

"Missed ya too." She replied, giggling as she was set down onto the ground.

"How was Boston?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Fun. I go shopping and have ice cweam and gwilled cheese."

"Yeah? That  _does_ sound fun." Her grandmother replied. "Wish I could've come with. What else did you do?"

"I have new friend."

"You do?" David asked although of course he already knew the answer.

Ava nodded, her messy hair swinging in the air. "Yeah. Emma."

"What's Emma like?" Mary Margaret sat the little girl at the kitchen table and immediately placed a plate full of cookies before her. Though she was far, age-wise, from being a grandmother, around Henry and Ava she acted like the typical grandma, immediately feeding her grandchildren every time they visited.

"She's nice." Ava said excitedly as she reached for a cookie. "Bought me ice cream." It was obvious that like Emma, food was always at the forefront of her mind.

Mary Margaret sat across the table from Ava. "So you like this Emma, don't you?"

"Yeah." Ava said through a mouthful of cookie. "Made gwilled cheese for me and Daddy."

Mary Margaret laughed. "Grilled cheese, huh? Well then no wonder you like her."

"So if everything's going so well why are you back?" David asked as he helped Hook carry in the rest of their stuff. "Not that I'm not happy to see Ava, but…"

"Just Ava?" Hook joked. "And here I thought we were becoming friends, mate. I'm offended."

"What can I say?" David fired back. "Little Ava's just irresistible. She's got nothing on you."

"Hey, she gets my looks from me." Hook argued. "And charm too, of course."

"Nope they're from me." David insisted. "Because she's a  _Charming._ "

"Can't argue with that." Hook laughed as he shut the door. "Everything's going well, yes, but I don't think it's a good idea to continue living in that hotel. Ava needs a real home. I figured I'd drop her off here for some time while I find an apartment or something."

"So you're really moving? I thought it was just temporary."

"At first that was my intention but now that Ava has taken such a liking to Emma...I can see that just being with Emma has been good for her. And for Emma as well. They need to spend more time together."

David nodded. "Agreed. What about you? Has she…" He trailed off, looking at Hook expectantly.

He shook his head. "Nope. But everything in time."

"Just be careful. It's my daughter we're talking about here. If anything happens…" David said seriously.

Hook nodded. "I know, mate. You've given me this warning about thirty times over."

"And yet not nearly enough."

"So what's the plan?" Mary Margaret asked. "How long are you going to be gone for?"

Hook shrugged. "As long as it takes to procure an apartment. And for Emma to succumb to my charm."

She rolled her eyes. "Alright. Well of course we'll look after Ava until then. Good luck with Emma."

"Aye. I'll need it. She was a tough nut to crack the first time and it has not proven to be any easier." Hook agreed.

* * *

Tough nut to crack, indeed. Without Ava as a buffer, he had no idea what to do. What he wanted was to take her out for a night on his ship, but since she didn't know the truth about who he was the Jolly Roger would be too much.

Hook walked down the street, a cup of coffee in hand. This was one of the inventions of the Land Without Magic that he couldn't imagine living without anymore. He'd become quite accustomed to the bitter taste and the rush of energy that followed.

He supposed that he could call David again and ask for ideas, but something inside refused to do so. It was a matter of pride, he figured. He'd always had an easy time with women and it would be humiliating to ask for help once more.

Except what was he to do? Picnic? Nah, been there done that. Out for dinner? Boring. A movie? Hook still hadn't fully grasped the concept of the magic moving box and its pictures and the last thing he needed was Emma catching on that he wasn't from this land. Apparently everybody here was familiar with the TV.

Just then, he spotted something peculiar out of the corner of his eye. A youngish looking couple coasted by hand in hand, laughing hysterically. How were they traveling so fast? The woman wobbled but miraculously managed to stay on her feet as they zoomed by.

Upon closer inspection they appeared to be wearing some sort of weird contraption with wheels strapped to their feet. Perhaps it was those devices that was allowing them to move at such a rapid speed. Hook blinked at this barbaric way of traveling. This land was so weird.

But then he saw more and more people doing it, wearing the same contraptions, laughing all the way. It seemed quite normal. Something fun, too.

Hook smiled triumphantly to himself; looks like he'd found the perfect activity.

* * *

"Rollerblades?" Emma laughed as she opened the door only to be greeted by a pair of the wheeled shoes. "You want to go  _rollerblading_?"

Killian shrugged adorably. "Why not? It's a perfectly lovely day outside, not fit for being cooped up. Might as well give it a try."

She pursed her lips. "Didn't I say that I had plans?"

"Actually, darling, you said no such thing. You said and I quote, 'we'll see'. And as far as I can see, you have no plans and therefore no reasonable objection for not spending the day using these bloody contraptions with me."

"You're really persistent, aren't you?"

"Aye, that I am. So what do you say, love?" He held up the rollerblades. "Want to give it a try?"

~For the Love of Swan~

"I haven't been rollerblading in ages." Emma fastened the rollerblades onto her feet. "Since I was a kid, at least."

"Well, I guarantee you'll be better than me." Hook replied as he subtly watched her out of the corner of his eyes, trying to mimic her actions. How the bloody hell did you fasten these things, anyway?

"We'll see." Emma replied, standing up. She wobbled for a second, reaching out to grip the park bench to steady herself. "Wow. I've forgotten what they feel like."

He managed to secure his and stood up, immediately regretting it as his feet flew out from under him and he landed smack on his ass.

"You weren't kidding, were you?" Emma looked down at him, an amused expression on her face.

"Nope." He said, struggling to stand up again. She reached out to grip his arm and managed to get him seated on the bench again.

"But you know what they say." He grinned. "You try something new everyday."

"Aren't you adventurous." Emma quipped.

"Aye. That I am." Hook responded. "I do love a good challenge." As soon as the sentence left his lips he was struck by a deep sense of deja vu, immediately taken back to that day climbing the beanstalk.

It seemed as though his words had an effect on Emma as well; a thoughtful look crossed her face as she became visibly troubled.

"What's the matter?" He asked, crossing his fingers surreptitiously. Maybe she'd remembered something. Or was that too much to hope for.

"Nothing." She said softly. "Just thought of the strangest thing."

"Do tell."

She snickered to herself. "I just had a vision of myself climbing a beanstalk. How weird is that?"

Hook felt as though he'd been struck, the wind knocked out of his lungs.  _She was remembering._  "Odd." He forced a laugh while trying to stop a large, silly grin from spreading.

"Yeah. Anyway," Emma began. "Let's see just how terrible you are on these." With a mischievous grin she coasted off.

"Swan!" Hook called as he flailed violently, cursing under his breath.

"Can't keep up?" Emma teased, casting a look over her shoulder.

"What does it look like?"

She skated gracefully back to him. "Poor sucker." She said, gripping his arm. "Here. I'll help you."

"I thought you said you hadn't used these bloody things in years." He said as he inched along the path.

"I haven't. Guess I'm just that good."

"Aye." He agreed. "And rather self centered too, I see."

In response, she let go of his arm, causing him to lose the little bit of balance he'd had and he instantly began wobbling around like an idiot.

"Oops." She grinned. "My bad." She stood over him, arms crossed, looking down in amusement.

"Oh, I see. You having a laugh at my expense."

"I guess I am." She laughed loudly. "Do you even know how ridiculous you look right now? Ready to admit that you need a self centered person's help?"

"Never." He reached out and shoved her shoulders. Emma's eyes widened as she fought to keep her balance, but ultimately failed, falling backwards into the grass, her mouth a wide O of surprise.

"You suck! Real mature." She cried as she hit the ground.

"Why thank you." He grinned saucily, but his moment of triumph was short lived; with a wry grin she reached out and grabbed his legs, causing his feet to slip out from under him. Suddenly her face was rushing up to meet his as he fell, finding himself lying crooked over her side, face to the ground. They both tried to extricate themselves, but instead got hopelessly and quite awkwardly entangled.

"You're really clumsy, aren't you?" Emma said. Her heart started to pound. His cheek was inches from hers, a strand of grass tangled around a lock of hair, and she had the strongest urge to reach out and tug it free.

He turned to face her. "I take offense at that!" He protested. "In fact, before these bloody contraptions I have never fallen before. I am quite graceful."

"Somehow I don't believe it."

"Well you should. Perhaps I did this on purpose."

"And why's that?"

"So I could do this." He leaned in to kiss her softly, gently, sweetly. At first she was stiff and hesitant, but slowly started to respond. A note of triumph filled his chest as she kissed back. It felt so familiar and comforting, yet new and exciting all the same. All thoughts flew out of his mind. It was just Emma and the warm breeze and the crisp scent of the grass around them.

"Ahem." An amused voice said in the background.

Hook and Emma immediately sprang apart. She tried to scramble up but slipped on her skates and fell right back down. Standing not too far away were two teenagers who appeared to be on a date just like they were.

"Maybe you should get a room." The girl suggested. "Not that I'm all for, you know," She shot a look at her mortified looking boyfriend. "But there are kids here."

"I agree." Hook interjected. "About the room part." He clarified. "What do you say, love?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Have fun with this one." She said to Emma as she grabbed her boyfriend's hand and skated away.

"God." Emma pressed the backs of her hands against her eyes. "Being told off by a  _teenager._  That's embarrassing." She hoisted herself up and reached a hand down to help him.

"But well worth it." He raised a suggestive eyebrow.

She smiled uncharacteristically shyly. "And a one time thing." She added firmly.

Hook chuckled.  _That was what you said last time._ "I'm sure it was. Hey. I think I think we've had enough of these today." He commented. "What do you say to some ice cream?

"Oh yeah, definitely."

They started skating away back towards the bench; Emma noticed that her hand was still gripping his. And she had no intention of letting go.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Where's Ava?" Emma asked as they exited the ice cream parlor, the very same one that she and Ava had visited not too long ago. As expected, Killian had ordered a chocolate cone.

"Staying with her grandparents." He replied.

"Oh. Why?" Though it had been an admittedly fun day with just her and Killian she found herself missing the little girl. "I thought you were moving here."

"Aye, that we are. But I figured it'd be better for her if I leave her with her grandparents while I find a place for us to live."

"Wait. You don't have a place? Where have you been staying?"

"In a hotel."

"Really? For that long? Damn." Emma whistled.

"What?"

"Not too many people would move someplace before securing their living situation. You must've been desperate."

"Perhaps." He said simply.

"Why?"

"Well aren't you a curious lass."

Curious didn't even begin to describe her. Ever since she'd met Killian and Ava she'd been dying to know what had happened to the little girl's mother. Killian had a lost, haunted look in his eye that suggested that something truly awful had gone down.

"You're either running away  _from_ someone or  _to_ someone. Or something, I guess." She surmised. One look at the expression on his face and she knew she was spot on.

"Quite perceptive." Killian said after a long moment. "But wrong."

Emma frowned. She was right; she was quite certain of it. But one glance at the look on his face and she stopped, deciding not to pry. "Ok."

They walked down the street in silence for a while, the awkwardness between them palpable.  _God, why did I say even say that? Ruined a perfectly good date!_ Emma mentally scolded herself.  _Maybe I should just apologize and leave._

But before she could do so, Killian turned to her. "What would you say to helping me find an apartment for Ava and me?"

Relief, so strong she almost fell over, flooded through her as she took in the relaxed expression on his face. He wasn't mad. "Sure."

* * *

"Damnit." Emma muttered as she dug through her ridiculously messy purse. "Where is it?"

From his position in the passenger seat Hook looked up from his cup of coffee and the newspaper in his hand. "What're you looking for?"

"My sunglasses." Emma sighed as she threw her purse aside and began digging through her coat pockets. "I swear I left them in here."

"Oh." He sat up and popped open the glove compartment automatically. "Here." It wasn't until Emma threw him a confused look when he realized his mistake.

"How'd you know they were in there?" She frowned suspiciously.

"Oh. Well." Hook stumbled, trying to find an answer. How was he supposed to explain that he knew exactly where Emma kept her sunglasses because she  _always_ kept them in the glove compartment of the Bug? "I always keep mine there so I figured you would too." He improvised.

"Thanks. So, you wanted a place with two bedrooms right?"

"Right."

"Ok, well there are several pretty nice places. Near a park too, so Ava might like that." Emma said, beginning to drive down the street.

"Sounds lovely."

* * *

(a week later)

"Bloody hell." Hook cursed as they left what felt like the millionth apartment building. "Another no."

"Yeah, I know." Emma said in commiseration. "Apartment hunting's not as easy as it sounds."

"One place too expensive, the other too noisy, and another has rats." Hook counted them off on his fingers. "It should not be this difficult to obtain a living space."

"Except that it is. You clearly haven't been to the city, I take it."

"No. And if it wasn't for…" He stopped himself just in time before he could reveal the actual reason he was here. He cleared his throat. "So what now?"

Emma shrugged. "Keep searching, I guess. Not really much you can do."

Killian sighed. "Great. More time away from Ava."

The look on his face was enough to make her melt. He was just so  _unlike_ anyone she'd ever met. Such a gentleman (most of the time, not counting his constant use of innuendos) and she could tell that he really loved his daughter. So different from what she was used to, deadbeat dads who abandoned their children and ended up skipping town.

Oh wait. Maybe that was just because she spent a lot of time chasing down felons. Who usually left behind kids.

Which was was why she was only partially surprised at the next words that left her mouth. "You could move in with me."

Killian looked over at her, his eyes wide with shock. "Come again?"

"...just until you find a place, of course." She clarified, her face already growing bright red. God, what was it with him and his ability to make her blush like a shy teeanger? "Wouldn't want you to have to be apart from Ava any longer."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Emma nodded. "Totally."

"No, I couldn't. I don't wish to impose."

"Nah, it's cool. I have a spare room and it's a big apartment for just one person. Could really use a roommate."

He nodded, seemingly considering her offer. "Alright, then." He flashed her one of his brilliant smiles. "Thanks."

* * *

 _Why did I do that?_ Emma thought wildly as she attempted to de-clutter the spare room. Not that there was much to clean, of course, as she had never been a pack rat or very sentimental.  _Offering some guy I barely know to move in._

But he wasn't exactly just some guy she barely knew. She'd been out with him multiple times, invited him over, took his daughter shopping,  _and kissed him in the middle of the freaking park._

Speaking of the kiss. She was still surprised at how she'd so eagerly responded. Normally she would've pulled away immediately, probably kneed him or something. It had taken several months before she'd allowed Neal to even hold her hand.

But with Killian, it just felt so...familiar. And comforting. She didn't exactly know how to define their relationship. Were they friends? Perhaps. But there was the fact that he'd kissed her. And that she'd liked it and kissed back. Did that make them more than friends? There was no denying it; she had feelings for him.

She could easily see herself developing a relationship with him and his daughter. Letting them into her life, spending more time with them. In fact part of her wanted it. But the other part, the part that had been hurt time and time again, was screaming at her to just keep things platonic. That he would end up being someone who wasn't who he said he was.

 _Then WHY did you invite him to move in?!_ An angry voice inside screamed.  _Are you freaking insane? Do you want to be murdered in the middle of the night? You still don't really know much about the guy! I mean, sure he's a good kisser, but still!_

 _Ava._ Emma told herself.  _You're doing this for Ava. Because the thought of the poor little girl not having a home is just unbearable._

And as for Killian, she would just have to maintain a distance between them. Friends shared apartments all the time. They would be friends, but nothing more. Because her prior experiences had told her that letting people in would always end up to be a mistake.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anybody has been wondering, Emma doesn't recognize Hook from the hospital because she was drugged and half asleep then. Maybe it's not completely realistic, as I don't know much about the affects of pain meds, but that's what I'm going with.

Chapter 21

"Thanks again." Killian said as he hefted several suitcases through the door. "You have no idea how grateful we are to you."

"Like I said before, it's fine." Emma watched as he went back out to the hallway, where a couple more boxes were waiting. "Really."

Just then, Ava came bounding through the door. Emma's heart filled at the sight of the little girl; she hadn't realized how much she'd missed her. "Hey, Ava."

"Emma!" Ava ran over and hugged her around her legs. "Hi!" Clearly, she was on a sugar high. No one could be that perky that early in the morning.

Emma bent down until she was at the toddler's level. "Miss me?"

"Yeah."

"How was your grandparents?"

"Fun. I had cookies and gwape juice and drawed pictures."

"Oh, that does sound fun." Emma straightened upon seeing Killian struggle with the boxes. "Hold on. I'm gonna go help your dad with your stuff." She strode over towards the open door. "Need a hand?"

"Nope." He grunted, although it was obvious he was failing. "I got it."

"Sure." Emma rolled her eyes. Men. She leaned casually against the doorframe, an amused smile tugging on the corners of her mouth as she watched the box tumble to the ground.

"Are you sure you don't need help?"

He casted her an annoyed look. "I'm sure."

"Well your macho act is clearly just that. An act. Because you're failing miserably." She walked over and picked up one end of the box. "I could do this with one hand."

"Sure you could." He quipped, but grabbed the other end.

"What do you got in here?" Emma said as she walked backwards into the apartment. "Rocks?"

"No." He responded before heading back out to grab the last box.

Curious, she flipped open the lid and popped inside. Expecting video games or sports equipment, she was surprised to find it full to the brim of... _books?_

"Wow." Emma commented. There were all types of leather bound books in there, from classics that she recognized from being forced to read them in various English classes in high school to books she'd never heard of before. Judging from the dilapidated state, these books were constantly read and treasured.

"What?" Came a voice from behind.

"I just...never pegged you for the type."

Killian shot her an amused glance. "And what type would that be, love?"

"The bookish type." Although now that she thought about it, she could totally see Killian at a bookstore, black glasses perched on the end of his nose, cuddled into a leather armchair by a fireplace. It was not a bad image.

"There are lots of things you don't know about me." He replied. "So...where should I put these? I can't imagine you'd want all of my belongings just thrown about in your apartment."

"Oh. Follow me." She led him down the hall and opened a door. "Here. This will be your room. Well, yours and Ava's. You'll have to share, sorry."

"No, this is more than enough." He protested as he peeked into the simple room. There was a bed, a chair, a small dresser, and a desk. Furniture that she'd actually gone out and rented to make her apartment not look so lonely and empty. "It's lovely, thank you."

"Yep. No problem. So what do you guys want for dinner? Pizza, Chinese…?"

Killian chuckled. "Not really the cooking type, I take it."

"Psh. No." She waved that idea away. "Grilled cheese is pretty much it."

"Well, then. Let me make you dinner."

Emma began to protest, but he interrupted. "Really. It'll be my pleasure. Just a token of my thanks for letting us share your apartment."

"Well. Ok then." She smiled. "It'd be nice to eat something that doesn't come in a takeout container."

"Exactly." He followed her into the kitchen where she opened the fridge. It was empty except for a six pack of beer, a pack of some sad looking mushrooms, and bread. "Damn. There's not much to work with."

Emma came up behind him. "Yeah, I know. Are you sure you wouldn't rather order in?"

He shook his head stubbornly."I'm sure. Now go play with Ava."

"Ok. If you say so." She said dubiously, casting him a worried glance before joining Ava in the living room. The little girl was seated on the carpet, her blocks in front of her, her face screwed up in concentration. "Hey. Watcha doing?"

"Building."

"Really? What're you building?"

"Castle."

"Fun. Can I help?"

"Okay." Ava handed her a couple blocks. "You build the roof."

"Sure." Emma followed Ava's lead, placing blocks where the little girl told her to. "So who's the castle for? Princess Ava?" She teased.

Much to her surprise, Ava shook her head. "Nope. It's for Mommy."

Emma froze. This was the first time she'd ever heard Ava mention her mother. "Oh. That's cool."

"Yeah." Ava replied. "When Mommy comes back me and her and Daddy are gonna live in the castle."

 _When Mommy comes back._ That either meant that she was dead or had left her family.

She studied Ava's face; the girl's expression was placid, but Emma could see a familiar expression in her eyes. It was the same haunting expression that Emma saw every time she looked in the mirror.

The familiar undercurrent of abandonment.

Well, there it was. Ava's mother had left. Had abandoned her beautiful little daughter. Not that Emma was surprised; in her world this sort of thing happened all too often. But it didn't make it any less sad.

"I'm sure your Mommy will love it." She said absently.

Soon enough, a delicious aroma began filling the apartment. Emma was shocked; what in the world had Killian managed to cook from some bread and mushrooms? He was becoming more and more appealing. A guy who wasn't just good looking, but an amazing cook judging by the smell  _and_ amazing with kids? Damn.

 _Remember. Just friends._ She sternly reminded herself.

"Dinner's ready!" He called not too long later.

"Finally. I'm starving." Emma stood up. "That smells amazing."

"Why thank you." Killian bowed.  _Yet another point for him. Who bows anymore?_

She shook these thoughts out of her head and grabbed a stack of plates from the cabinet. "Am I correct in assuming that you want grape juice, Ava?"

"Duh!" She replied snarkily as she pushed herself up onto the chair. Just like before, her bear was propped up on the table as well.

"Alrighty." Emma laughed as she poured a cup and reached into the fridge for a beer. "Want one?" She offered to Killian. "I don't have any rum, but this is pretty good too." Then she paused. Why would she even think that he'd prefer rum?

He just smirked at her. "That'll be fine. Thank you."

As she set the table, Killian brought over three steaming plates of delicious looking spaghetti. "Wow." She stared, shocked. "How...what…?"

"A simple compliment would suffice." He said as he sat down.

"How did you even find the ingredients to make this?" She gaped. "Did you use magic or something?"

"Funny, but no. All I had to do was dig through your ridiculously messy supplies. And it turned out you had a package of pasta and several cans of sauce."

"You're amazing, you know that?" She said as she took a bite. The amazing flavors exploded on her tongue. She tasted mushrooms; had he really used that nasty looking pack in such a delicious tasting dish?

"So I've been told." He replied. "Cooking's just something that comes...natural to me. Amongst all of my other skills, of course."

She rolled her eyes but took another large bite. "Seriously, this is so good. You're cooking from now on. This whole moving in thing? It's gonna be the best thing that ever happened to my stomach."

As Killian helped cut up Ava's spaghetti, Emma had the weirdest flash of deja vu, something that had been happening more and more often. She felt like she'd had spaghetti with Killian before. And even odder? In Mary Margaret's apartment with Henry.

It was probably just the beer.

* * *

"So." Emma said as she settled onto the couch. "You sure have a lot of books." She gestured to the several boxes that still sat in the living room. Boxes that she'd discovered were all filled with books.

He shrugged, sitting down next to her. "Reading has always been one of my most favorite activities."

"Oh yeah?"

Killian nodded. "It's the perfect way to escape. Besides rum, of course."

"I can understand that."

"Really, now?"

"Surprised?" She took a sip of her drink. "When I was a foster kid, one of my favorite places was the library. I spent a lot of time there, avoiding my foster home and reading about far off places in hopes that someday I'd be able to visit. It was one of the things that helped me cope with my depressing living situations." When she looked up, he had a sad expression on his face.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"Yeah, well." Emma muttered darkly. "Just glad that it's over." She tipped back her head and drained the rest of her beer. "I've never told anyone that before."

"I do make an excellent listener."

"Yes, you do." She agreed.

Suddenly, his face seemed too close to hers, and then he was leaning in. If she hadn't turned her head aside his lips would've touched hers.

Emma sighed. "Killian. I'm sorry. I can't."

"Why?" He leaned back, barely disguised disappointment clouding his features.

"I just can't. I'm...not ready for a relationship right now."

Much to her surprise, he nodded. "Alright."

"I'm sorry." She repeated. "Friends?"

"Friends." He agreed.

Emma smiled and pushed herself up off the couch. "Great. I'll be right back, gonna go take a shower." She headed down the hall; as she did so, she could feel the weight of Killian's stare on her back.

What she didn't hear was him muttering to himself, "Friends? I don't think so. I can be quite charming when I want to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: So next up on "For the Love of Swan, we will learn more about Hook and his books, via flashback and in present time.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Hey. Bathroom's all yours." Emma said as she towel-dried her hair.

"Thanks." Killian said without looking up. He seemed to be engrossed in something. As she approached the couch she realized it was a book.

"Watcha reading?" She said, flopping down sideways on the couch. Without waiting for a response, she reached over and grabbed the heavy volume out of his hands. "Treasure Island?"

Killian shot her an annoyed look. "One of my favorites." He made a grab for the book but she held it out of reach.

Emma studied the back. "Is it good? Never read it before."

"It's one of the best books in all the lands."

"Oh really now?"

"There are pirates and adventures. What's not to love?"

"You really take this whole Captain Hook thing seriously don't you?" When he gave her a weird look, she continued. "Because Ava thinks you're Hook. So you like this book because, what, you're embracing the whole pirate thing?"

"Something like that. Now would you please give me my book back and let me continue with my reading?"

"No." Emma flipped through it. There were little notes all over the margins and when she opened the book it fell right open, indicating that that was a section that had been read time and time again. "Wow. All these notes. You're really dedicated."

He shrugged. "How else could you thoroughly grasped the meaning of a novel?"

"You're something, you know that? First the cooking and now this?"

He leaned in. "Starting to fall for my charms, aren't you Swan?"

Emma shoved him away. "In your dreams, Jones." She continued idly flipping through the thick book. "So what's your favorite part?"

He reached over and grabbed the novel out of her hands. "Let me show you." As he began to read out loud to her, filling the room with his rich, thickly accented voice, Emma settled herself against the couch cushions. Somehow her feet ended up in his lap and she began to relax, allowing herself to become washed away in the story and his comforting voice.

Soon she was fast asleep. What she didn't know was that it would be the best night's sleep she'd have in a long time.

* * *

" _God." Emma muttered as she tripped over one of Hook's many books yet again, stubbing her toe. "Hook!" She called, groaning as she took in the stacks and stacks of novels that were spilling out of the still yet to be unpacked boxes in their new apartment._

_He appeared from the kitchen, where he'd been attempting to organize their silverware. "Yes?"_

" _I thought I told you to stop leaving your books everywhere." She felt ridiculous, like she was scolding Henry, who ironically was neater than Hook when it came to keeping his books in his room. "I'm sick of tripping over them."_

" _Sorry." He replied, though he didn't look very sorry, more amused. "It's not my fault you're so clumsy, now is it?"_

_She shot him a look. "Not funny. I'm serious."_

" _No, you're Emma." He corrected with a lazy wink._

_In response she threw a book at his head. "Keep your books in one place or I'm throwing them out."_

" _Alright, alright." He set the book down onto the coffee table. "I see someone's grumpy today."_

" _I am not." Emma protested automatically._

_He just gave her one of his looks. "Really?"_

" _Well, maybe." She flopped down onto the couch. "I'm sorry. It's just...you know. The move, getting ready for the baby, everything. Do you even know how behind I am on paperwork? It's ridiculous." Almost unconsciously she rubbed her slightly swollen belly. "I forgot what a pain it is to be pregnant. All people talk about is how amazing it is but what you never hear about are the annoyances."_

_He sat down next to her and positioned her feet so that they were resting in his lap. "Aye. Your mother warned me your moods would be even worse than usual."_

" _You try feeling nauseous 24/7 and not being able to fit your clothes." She shot back._

_He stuck his tongue out. "That sounds awful."_

" _Exactly."_

" _I'll try to keep my books in one place from now on."_

" _You better." She half smiled. "Why do you even have so many books, anyway? I think that was half of what we packed from your ship. Just books."_

" _Because. Books have always been my means of escape."_

" _I thought it was rum."_

" _Well, yes. Books and rum."_

" _Wow." Emma raised an eyebrow. "I never would've pegged you for the bookish type."_

" _There are tons of things you have yet to discover about me."_

" _It's just doesn't seem like your thing. I thought pirates were all about swashbuckling adventures and wooing women."_

" _Well you have to do something in between all that. Everyone on my ship had their thing. For me, it was collecting books."_

" _True. So what's your favorite book?"_

_At the mention of his favorite book his eyes immediately lit up. "This." He retrieved the book Emma had tripped over earlier and handed it to her._

" _Treasure Island." Emma rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" She ran her hands over the leather bound cover and cracked it open. "Damn." She said upon noticing the dozens of little notes he'd scrawled in the margins. "You would've been my English teacher's dream student. This is serious dedication."_

" _Like I said, books are my most cherished possessions. Still want to throw them out?" He asked mischievously._

" _As long as you keep them in one place."_

" _Deal. Now your turn, love. What's your favorite book?"_

" _Hmm." Emma considered. "I didn't really have a favorite book. More like stories. You're gonna find this funny."_

" _Why's that?"_

" _Because as a kid I loved fairytales." She responded. "Especially Peter Pan. Just the idea of escaping...it was just so appealing."_

_He nodded. "Of course. But why the past tense? You say you loved them?"_

" _Well, because after a while I realized that fairy tales were just that. Fairy tales. Until I came to Storybrooke, of course, and realized that that wasn't true. But yeah. I realized that no prince was going to sweep me off my feet and rescue me. No fairy godmother was going to give me a new life. I'd be stuck in my awful foster homes. So I guess you could say I lost hope."_

" _Until I came along, of course." He interjected. "A devilishly handsome pirate who is hopefully better than any prince?"_

_Emma laughed. "Of course."_

_He sat back, mock relieved. "That's what I thought."_

" _How bout you?" She asked. "Why is Treasure Island your favorite book? I doubt it's just because it reminds you of yourself."_

_He shrugged. "When I was a young lad, still dashing of course, my mother used to tell Liam and me a tale that was highly similar to this Treasure Island."_

" _So it reminds you of your mother."_

" _I guess you could say that."_

" _That's cute." She poked him playfully. "Your Mommy reading to you."_

" _Aye. That novel brings back fond memories of my days before i joined the Navy. Also sad ones, as the day after she told me that tale for the very last time was the day she died."_

" _You know." Emma suggested. "We could make new memories with that story. You could tell it to the baby once it's born."_

" _Can't. I've long forgotten the details of that particular story."_

" _Oh."_

" _Although." He said. "We could do the next best thing."_

" _And what's that?"_

" _By reading this," Hook held up the book. "To the baby." He cracked it open._

" _Right now?"_

" _Why not? I've got nothing better to do."_

_Emma shrugged; she could think of a thousand things they should be doing, such as unpacking, but she had absolutely no desire to do so right now. She relaxed into the couch, leaning her head back, and just let herself be washed away by the story and Hook's voice._


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

 _She wanted to be just friends, huh?_  Hook thought to himself as he scrubbed his hair in the shower the next morning. "I don't think so." He muttered aloud. She had no idea who she was dealing with. He would get her to see that they  _couldn't_ be just friends.

* * *

Emma awoke with a start, momentarily confused. Where in the hell was she? Not in her bed, that's for sure. She took in the high ceiling and the leather beneath her. And then she remembered: she was on the couch, where she'd fallen asleep while Killian had been reading aloud to her.

She sat up, causing the blanket she normally kept on the back of the couch to slide off onto the ground. Huh. Looked like he'd placed the blanket over her before going to bed.

The shower was running, so Emma headed back to her room to gather her stuff before taking a shower and heading out for the day. She yawned widely; despite it being morning she was wide awake, something that hadn't happened in a while. Huh. She'd slept better last night than she'd had in a while. Emma briefly thought about how sweet it was that he'd covered her with a blanket, but immediately pushed it out of her mind. Friends did not think about each other like that.

Just then, the shower stopped; Emma grabbed her clothes and started towards the bathroom, engrossed by her phone. Mary Margaret had texted again, responding to Emma's text asking about how Henry was doing.

 _Tell him I miss him too._ She typed while pushing open the bathroom door, releasing a torrent of steam. And then stopped short, for when she was greeted by the sight of Killian, clad in only a towel knotted around his waist, a toothbrush in hand.

"Oh!" She dropped her phone in surprise "I-I'm sorry. I thought you were done." She immediately averted her eyes, face burning.

"No matter, love." He replied. A lazy smirk was already beginning to cross his face, as if he knew the effect he was having on her.

"I-I'm gonna go now." She said, trying to resist the urge to peek at his toned chest. "Sorry." She practically raced back into her room, slamming the door and throwing herself against it. Her heart was pounding so hard she was afraid it'd bruise her chest. God. She hadn't been so flustered around a guy since she was a teenager.

There was a knock on the door, causing her to jump. "Bathroom's all yours." Killian called.

"Okay!" She replied, her voice strangely high. "Thanks!" The image of his torso was burned into her eyes; as she started the shower she wondered what she was thinking when she'd decided just to be friends.

* * *

A slow grin crept across Hook's face as he heard a key turn in the lock. Finally, Emma was home, and it was time to put Operation Swan into action. He'd taken a page from Henry's book and named his little plan.

"Hey." Emma slammed the door.

"Hello." He replied, trying to appear casual from his spot on the couch, where was poring over a newspaper. A bunch of apartment listings were circled; Emma had offered him the use of her laptop to search for apartments but he preferred to stick to paper. As confusing as this world's newspapers were, they had nothing on the complexities of the internet. Emma and Henry had tried explaining it to him long ago, but their talk of "websites" and "email" and "links" had confused the hell out of him.

"How's the searching going?" Emma asked as she set her keys down and pulled off her boots.

"Fine." He responded. "I have found several apartments that might do. No worries, I'll be out of your hair soon."

"Oh ok cool. Where's Ava?"

"Taking a nap." He set down the newspaper he'd been pretending to read. "Speaking of which, I need to ask you a favor."

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind watching her Friday night?"

"Yeah, should be fine. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. Just going out." He said breezily.

"Oh really?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Who with?"

"Some lovely girl I met at the diner today." Taking in her thunderstruck expression, he smirked. "What's the matter, Swan? Jealous?"

"What?" She immediately snapped to attention. "No. Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Close your mouth then. You're letting flies in."

Emma rolled her eyes.

"You said you just wanted to be friends and that's what I'm doing."

"Yeah. I know. And it's cool. Totally fine with it. Go have fun on your little date. I'll keep Ava company."

Hook smiled. She was jealous, practically seething, he knew it. "Fine."

* * *

 _A date! He was going on a date!_  Emma nearly hurled her phone against the wall as she changed into sweats.  _God, he really moves fast._

She was the one who'd insisted they remain friends. So why did she feel like kicking a tree?

 _I'm probably just tired._ Emma reassured herself.  _It's been a long day, which is why I'm in a bad mood._

Anything to keep herself from admitting that she was, in fact, jealous.

Much too soon, Friday night came rolling around. As the day progressed Emma found her mood growing more and more sour, though she chalked it up to the long week, of course.

When she came home she was greeted by the sight of Killian checking his reflection in the toaster. "What're you doing?" She asked, amused.

He immediately shot up. "Nothing."

"Getting ready for your big date?" She teased.

"Perhaps. Jealous? Wish you were the one going out with this dashing rapscallion?"

 _Yes._ She forced a laugh."Jealous? I think not."

He gave her a look as if to say,  _if you say so._

"So where are you taking her?"

"The park. I was thinking a picnic. Women like that, right?"

She shrugged. "If she's the sappy, romantic type." On the inside she was thinking about how much fun a picnic with him would be.

He checked his watch. "I should be going now. Ava should be up from her nap soon

"All right, bye. Have fun. Don't get into too much trouble."

He smirked. "I won't. Have fun with Ava."

"I will." She said, closing the door and leaning against it. It was going to be a long night.

Just then, she heard little feet bounding down the hallway. "Hi Emma." Said Ava.

"Hey. So. Your dad's out tonight so it's just you and me."

"Ok."

"So what do you wanna do first? Are you hungry? I can make you a grilled cheese if you are."

At the prospect of grilled cheese Ava's face immediately lit up. "I'm hungry!"

Of course she was.

Three hours later, Emma and Ava were settled on the carpet in front of the couch. Their grilled cheeses had been long finished, along with Barbecue Lays of course. They'd built a large castle with Ava's blocks, watched some kiddie movie, and had a tea party with her dolls. Now they were playing dress up.

Ava hummed to herself as she dressed one of her dolls in a blue ball gown. She seemed perfectly content and hadn't thrown a single tantrum all night.

Emma, on the other hand, was growing more and more agitated. She looked up at the clock again; it was nearly 9. What in the hell had Killian and his blonde bitch bimbo (at least that's what she imagined the date would look like) been doing for almost four hours? Were they making out in the park? At a movie? Still at their picnic? Was she laughing at his jokes? Was he holding her hand?

God. Emma sighed. She had to stop thinking like this; it would only drive her crazy. But she couldn't stop imagining all of the scenarios.

"Emma…" Ava tugged on her hand. "You haven't dressed your doll yet."

"Hmm?" Emma looked down. "Sorry. I was distracted." She selected a purple shirt. And then had an idea. "Hey, Ava. I know it's probably past your bedtime but want to go for a walk and maybe get some ice cream?"

As expected, Ava nodded. "Yes!"

Emma smiled. "Good. Come on, lets go get your coat."

The park. Killian had said that he and his date were going to be at the park. They might not still be there, but surely it wouldn't hurt to check. Emma pushed aside all thoughts about how ridiculous this was and continued walking, Ava's hand clutched in her own.

"How's your ice cream?"

"Good."

"Great." Emma replied absently as she scanned the park for Killian's familiar black hair. "Hey. What do you say to walking around in the park for bit? It's pretty warm out."

"Mmkay." Ava said in between licks. Luckily kids were quite easily distracted once you gave them sugar.

 _There!_ Emma spotted him and a brunette who was clutching his hand. They were walking along the path. Her fists clenched as the brunette turned and laughed at something Killian said. As she watched Killian and the brunette flirt, she couldn't ignore the hot jealousy clawing at her insides any longer.

What did that brunette think she was doing with  _her_ guy? Oh wait. Killian wasn't hers. She's given up that right when she'd insisted that they stay friends.

But there was no denying it any longer. She couldn't stand the thought of him dating anyone. They couldn't just be friends.

Without a single thought to what she was doing, she marched over towards them. Shoved the brunette aside despite her protests.

"Swan…" He stammered. "What're you…" He never got to finish his sentence, for she effectively silenced him by planting her lips onto his.

 


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Hook walked in the park with the woman he'd met at the diner, Chloe or Courtney or something, pretending to be interested in what she was saying. He'd asked her out purely due to her looks, knowing full well that that would make Emma jealous. Chloe/Courtney was the type of woman he'd wooed back in his pirate days, the type that he wouldn't hesitate to spend the night with. But that was back before he met Emma.

All he could think about was how much better this night would be if he was spending it with Emma. He could even imagine her sarcastic reaction to his carefully planned evening, the way she'd stick out her tongue and roll her eyes when she saw his picnic, but how she'd inevitably end up enjoying it. And unlike Chloe/Courtney, she'd actually eat the food he'd set out, as Emma wasn't afraid of food like a lot of other women were.

"So yeah, California's pretty cool this time of year." She was saying.

"Mmm." Hook said. What the bloody hell was a California?

Just then, he heard loud footsteps behind him and he turned around to find an angry looking Emma, Ava trailing not far behind.

Chloe/Courtney was pushed aside. "Hey!" She protested. "Who do you think you are?"

"Swan…" He gasped. "What're you…" He was interrupted by Emma, who marched up and cut him off with her lips, pressing up against him and kissing him urgently.

"I can't do it." Emma said, backing up with a vulnerable expression on her face. "The whole friends thing. I can't."

She bit her lip uncertainly as Kilian just blinked at her, looking somewhat dazed. Had she been too forward? What was she thinking, just going and interrupting his date?

Finally, a slow, semicocky smile crossed his face. "I knew you'd come around."

They found little excuses to touch each other on the way back to the apartment. Hands bumping, feet "accidentally" stepping on each other's, coat sleeves rubbing together as Killian carried an almost catatonic Ava back. Despite the ice cream she was out cold.

"What were you thinking, taking my three year old daughter out at this hour?" He asked as he came walking back into the living room after tucking Ava into bed. He didn't seem angry, just amused.

"Ava seemed fine with it. Practically begged me to take her."

Killian stared at her. "You expect me to believe that she begged you to take her out for ice cream."

"Yeah. Kid sure loves her sugar."

"Somehow I don't believe you, Swan." With every word he stepped closer and closer to her.

"Well maybe you should."

"Here's what I think." Killian said. He was so close now that Emma was practically pressed against the wall. "You couldn't stand the idea of me going out tonight. You stared at that clock on the wall all evening." He gestured blithely in the direction of the clock mounted on the wall. "And with every passing moment it was  _killing_ you. You just  _had_ to know what I was doing. So you picked up my young daughter and took her out, using ice cream as a bribe, which is bloody brilliant by the way, and decided to spy on me."

"You're wrong." She said defiantly. "It wasn't intentional. Ava was being extra good so I decided to take her out as a treat. And it's completely coincidental that we passed by the park where you happened to be."

"Right. It wouldn't have to do with the fact that I  _mentioned to you where I'd be_." He had her, he knew it, though of course her face betrayed no emotion.

"Nope." She gave him that familiar shit-eating grin.

He took one last step until they were pressed up against each other. "You, my dear, have always been a terrible liar."

"Hey Killian?"

"Yes?"

She smiled. "Shut up and kiss me already."

He felt a familiar flutter of excitement. "As you wish."

Two seconds later, his hands were in her hair and his lips were over his and they were kissing, touching, and stumbling towards the couch, practically falling onto it as things got very heavy very quickly.

God. Every inch of her body was vibrating with pleasure and all she wanted was to press every inch of her body against his. If this was what it felt like to kiss him she should've kissed him a lot more. When he'd come over for grilled cheese. Or even better, the day they'd met.

"Wait." Emma said breathlessly, pulling away from him.

He let go, desire clouding his eyes. "What? What's wrong? Do you not want…?"

"No. I mean, I do. But Ava's in the other room."

"She's asleep." Killian said as he attempted to get back to what they were doing. "Sleeps like a bloody log."

"Still." Emma wriggled out from underneath him, sitting up on the couch. "We can't just...you know, while she's sleeping. The walls are pretty thin."

He nodded, though he looked thoroughly disappointed as he did so. "You're right."

She yawned hugely, and stretched. "It's been a long day. I should probably go to bed."

"Alright."

Emma stood up and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm gonna go take a shower first. And who knows? I might forget to lock the door." She said, suggestively running her hand down his arm before heading down the hall.

* * *

"I thought you said the walls were thin."

"They are." Emma turned to face him, unable to keep from smiling. "But not in the bathroom. Especially with the water running."

"Well, I'm glad." He said, his voice soft as he reached underneath the blanket and wrapped his arm around her bare stomach.

She shivered as goosebumps graced her skin; this was new, actually talking with a guy after sex. Normally she either left right away or promptly fell asleep. And most of the time she was drunk.

A sigh escaped her lips as she let her body relax against his, his chest pressing up against her back. She could feel the steady thumping of his heart as it slowly started to lull her to sleep. As her mind did every night before she fell asleep, she began to cycle through the events of the day.

Just then, something occurred to her, causing her to sit up. She slowly turned to face him. "You knew I was coming didn't you?"

"Sorry. Come again?"

"At the park. You told me where you'd be because you knew I'd come after you."

He grinned. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Smug bastard. "How did you even know I'd do that?"

He grabbed hold of her, pulling her down on top of him and hugging her close. "Like I have always said, love, I know you better than you know yourself."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

(a year ago)

 _Emma Swan had always been a deep sleeper. It was one of her talents, being able to sleep through just about anything, from crashing thunder to loud traffic to violent fights. It had come in_ very _handy in prison, sleeping through the screams of the other inmates night and sleeping through Neal's loud as fuck snores._

_She supposed it came from years of sharing bedrooms with multiple kids. Some snored louder than a freight train, while others had the scary tendency to talk in their way, the second Emma hit the pillow and closed her eyes she was out till morning. Nothing could shake her awake until her alarm went off._

_That is, until Ava came along._

_No matter how tired she was, the second Ava started to cry at night Emma's eyes would fly open. This always happened regardless of how soft or loud Ava's cries were._

_So tonight was no exception. It wasn't the crash and boom of the thunder that practically shook the apartment that had woken her up. Nope, it was the cries of her baby daughter. Rolling her eyes at Hook, who slept soundly, she pushed her feet into her slippers and shuffled down the hall._

" _Hey." She said softly, cracking open the door to find Ava sitting up in her crib. "Can't sleep?"_

_One look at her mother and her soft whimpers turned into loud cries._

" _Come here." Emma reached out and took Ava into her arms. "Scared of the storm, huh? I know the feeling."_

_Ava blinked up at her, her blue eyes wet with tears as she cried._

_Emma stared at her daughter's eyes, still amazed at how beautiful they were. Still amazed at how beautiful Ava was in general. She backed up until she was sitting in the rocking chair they'd placed in the corner of the room. "Shh." She said soothingly. "I know it sounds scary, but there's really nothing to be afraid of, Princess."_

_Yeah. Princess. The use of pet names in general was something she'd never thought she do, especially since every time her parents called her "sweetie" or "kiddo" or something equally annoying it only served to piss her off. But Ava was so precious and so beautiful that princess just seemed to suit her._

_She reached over to the crib to grab Ava's baby blanket, wrapping her daughter up in it and holding her closer to her chest. "It sounds like it's super close, but it's actually far away. So you're totally safe." She whispered, rubbing gentle circles across Ava's back._

_Just then, a particularly loud clap of thunder sounded, causing Ava's screams to intensify._

" _Shhh. It's alright. Mommy's got you." Emma felt Ava's fingers tighten around a strand of her hair as her eyes grew wide with fright._

" _The storm will be over soon. Trust me, I know. I've been through enough of them. Just relax and think of something happy."_

_Slowly, Ava's sobs subsided and she began to quiet, leaning her head against Emma's shoulder as she started to relax._

" _See? Told ya you're safe." Emma said as the thunderclaps grew quieter and quieter. "The storm's over now." One look at her daughter and Emma knew that Ava was fast asleep. Her heart filled as she noticed how close Ava had snuggled against her. She almost didn't want to let go of Ava, having the urge to just sit in the rocking chair and hold her daughter until morning. But then she yawned hugely and looked at the clock. Almost 4 am. She'd have to be at the station in a couple hours._

_Slowly, Emma stood up and walked over to the crib, where she gently placed the toddler back inside. "Good night." She bent over and tenderly pressed a kiss against the little girl's forehead before tucking Cinnamon in beside her and tiptoeing out of the room._

* * *

Emma's eyes flew open. She looked around the dark room, confused. What was she doing awake in the middle of the night? She could sleep through anything. Literally, _anything._ In prison she'd been given the nickname Rip Van Winkle, for she had been the only one able to sleep through the night.

So that begged the question: why in the hell was she awake?

And then she heard it. A soft, mewling sound coming from down the hall. Ava. It had to be Ava. She looked over at Killian, who was fast asleep next to her.

"Hey." She whispered into the dark room. "I think Ava's crying."

But Killian only groaned in response and rolled over, taking half the blanket with him.

"Killian." She said a little louder. "Wake up."

He remained asleep. Emma rolled her eyes; she supposed he was a little tired out from their, um, _activities_ earlier. Except what was she to do? His daughter was crying, probably waking up from a nightmare, and she'd surely need her father to comfort her. Emma couldn't just leave Ava to cry all night (though that was what her foster parents had done) but Killian was practically comatose.

So that only left one option.

"Hey." She whispered, pushing open the door to the spare room. Just as she expected, boxes and suitcases were still strewn about everywhere, cluttering up the small room. "Is everything ok?"

Ava was sitting up in bed, her bear clutched in one arm and her baby blanket wrapped around her tiny body, her eyes rimmed red and teary as she cried.

"Are you ok?"

The cries suddenly intensified, causing Emma's breath to hitch in the back of her throat. For some reason the little girl's cries seemed to hit her right in the chest. She had the overwhelming urge to comfort her.

She walked further into the room. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Ava was crying so hard she couldn't even answer, just nodded.

Emma sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hey, it's ok." She said, her voice sounding so soothing and, well, _maternal_ that it surprised her. Since when had she been good with kids? "It was just a dream."

Ava shook her head. "No." Her voice cracked as she rubbed at her eyes. "Nooooo."

"Yes." Emma said. "It's not real. Whatever it was, it wasn't real."

"Yes, it was." Ava insisted.

"Trust me, Av. As someone who has had _plenty_ , and I mean plenty, of experience with nightmares, whatever you dreamed about wasn't real." Emma responded. Though, of course, that wasn't quite true. As a kid one of her recurring nightmares featured a soothing woman's voice, a pair of arms holding her until they were ripped away, and the clang of something that sounded like swords. She supposed it was her subconscious's way of reliving being abandoned by her parents. Added with strange elements from all the fairy tales she'd read.

"But it _was._ "

"No, princess. It wasn't." Emma blinked. Where had "princess" come from? "When I was little I used to dream about monsters chasing me all the time. But once I realized they weren't real they didn't scare me anymore."

Ava blinked up at her with her tear filled blue eyes. "But I didn't dream about monsters."

"Ok. Well what was it? C'mon. Talking about it will help you feel better."

"Ok." Ava looked down at her bear, holding it close. "I dreamed about Mommy."

Emma froze. She didn't even know this woman, the bitch who'd abandoned her daughter, but already hated her. "Really? What happened?"

Ava looked down. "Mommy left."

 _Oh._ So Ava's dream wasn't just a nightmare, but a memory of her mother abandoning her. Ouch. No wonder the poor kid woke up crying. "She did?"

Ava nodded. "Uh huh. In my dream Mommy packed her stuff and said she had to go." She began to cry again. "She doesn't want me."

Emma's heart broke as she watched Ava sob. It was looking into a mirror and seeing her younger self. Suddenly, she found herself reaching out and wrapping the little girl into a tight hug; Ava reciprocated by wrapping her small arms around Emma's neck.

"Shh. Ava, it's ok." She whispered. "Listen to me." She held the girl at arm's length and looked into her eyes. "You still have your daddy who loves you very, very much. And you have me."

Ava pulled away and looked at her. "I do?"

"Yes, you do. And I'm not going anywhere, ok? Never."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Emma said firmly. "And Ava, your mother doesn't deserve you. You're the most beautiful, sweetest, lovable girl I've ever known. You make everyone around you light up." Emma's voice took on a hard edge. "You don't need her. You're better off without her." For a second she didn't know whether she was talking about her own parents or Ava's sorry excuse of a mother.

Suddenly, Emma literally saw red. How could this woman just so callously abandon her beautiful daughter like that? If Emma had a daughter like Ava she'd hold on tight.

Never leave her behind.

Slowly, Ava's sobs quieted as Emma held her close, rubbing soothing circles across her back. She could feel the little girl begin to relax.

"You ok to go back to sleep now?" Emma asked.

Ava nodded sleepily. "Think so."

"Ok." Emma tucked the covers under Ava's chin, being sure to slip her bear in next to her. "That good?"

"Mmhm." Ava murmured.

"Good night." Emma whispered, pressing a kiss to the girl's forehead.

"Good night, Emma." Ava replied as she turned over. "I love you."

 _What?_ Her eyes filled with tears; the simple statement made her so unexplainably happy but sad all the same. Instead of her mother tucking her in and soothing her nightmares, it was a stranger. A stranger who was maybe, sorta kinda dating her father, but a stranger nonetheless.

Emma only hesitated briefly before saying the next part. "I love you too, Ava." Emma responded before leaving the room.

"Great job." Came a voice from behind.

She jumped. "Jesus!" Emma's hand leapt to her chest as she turned around to find Killian sitting outside in the hallway. "What the hell? Have you been sitting here the entire time?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

"So you heard everything?"

He nodded.

"Well why didn't you come in then? Ava really could've used her father."

"Nah. You looked like you had it under control."

She leveled him with a stare that would've sent most men running. "Really?"

He looked up at her, that familiar lazy smirk already forming. "Really."

"Excuse me. Do I amuse? Your daughter was just in there, crying her eyes out, and you didn't even go in? Are you insane or just that heartless?"

"She needed you."

"What does that even mean?"

"I mean." Killian started. "She needed you. A mother figure. And look at the wondrous job you just did. Sound asleep yet again. Job well done."

"You sound awfully chipper for a guy who's daughter was just sobbing after a nightmare about being abandoned." And then she realized. "This nightmare happens often, doesn't it?"

He nodded, sadness creeping over his features. Suddenly, he appeared to be ten years older. "Aye. That it does."

Emma sank down onto the carpeted floor next to him. "I'm sorry." She weirdly felt more than just sorry for Ava and Killian, but bone crushingly guilty.

For some reason he was averting her gaze. "For what? You did nothing. I should be thanking you for soothing my daughter's nightmare. You did so much faster than I ever did."

"That's because I went through the same thing." Emma said hollowly. "My parents abandoned me too."

Somehow he didn't seem surprised. "I know. You and Ava have that look, the look when you've been abandoned. Yet another thing you two share."

"What happened?" Emma asked. "With her mother?"

"Exactly what Ava told you. She left."

"She just decided to pick up and leave?"

"Right."

Emma frowned; something was off. She could tell Killian was telling the truth, but not the whole truth. But she wasn't about to push what was obviously a sore subject.

"Well, Ava's better off without her." Emma said firmly.

"And you're so certain of this?"

"Yeah, I am. If her mother was so stupid and careless as to just leave her daughter like that clearly she doesn't deserve her. You and Ava both are better off without her."

"Well what if she had a good reason for leaving?"

"You're obviously still too hung up over her to see the truth."

"I'm serious." He said. "What if Ava's mother had a good reason to leave? Would that make her so stupid and careless then?" He mocked her tone. "She's a good person. I know it."

"Oh, no." Emma shook her head violently. "Nuh uh. _Nooo_ way. There's no freaking way in hell a decent person just leaves their kid behind. I don't care what kind of lame excuses they have. That the kid will be better off without them? That's total crap."

"You obviously feel pretty strongly about this, don't you Swan?"

"Yeah, I do."

"So what about your son?"

She froze. How had he known about that? She was about to accuse him of being a stalker when he immediately jumped in.

"I've seen pictures around your apartment. The resemblance was uncanny. And since he doesn't live here with you I believe it's safe to assume that you abandoned him too?"

"No." Emma shook her head. "I...not exactly. I was eighteen, in prison when he was born. I gave him up to give him his best chance. I mean, what kind of life could I have given him? Not a very good one, that's for sure."

"And you're sure that you gave him his best chance."

"Yeah. It's a long story, but in the end he does have a mother who loves him in her own weird ways. So yeah. I'm not exactly proud and happy that I had to give him up but at least I did it for his own good. And that's more than Ava's mother can say."

In Emma's mind, she conjured up a faceless blonde woman. At least, she assumed the woman was blonde. She actually had no idea what the lady looked like, but since Ava was she figured her mother would be too. Just the very image, the very idea of the bitch that left her daughter behind to suffer was enough to make Emma want to kill something.

**Author's note: Oh, the irony.**

**Just to clarify, Ava was NOT having a flashback about Emma leaving, since she never technically saw Emma leave. It just happened and she was told about it afterwards. This was just a nightmare.**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Somehow, in the middle of the night Ava had come into her room and snuggled herself in between Hook and Emma. It was a scene too cute for words; under normal circumstances he would've closed his eyes to enjoy several more hours of sleep but Ava's presence had reminded him of the events that had transpired last night.

He was overjoyed, of course, at what had happened between him and Emma. Beyond overjoyed. Ecstatic. Finally, he'd broken down the sky high walls surrounding her heart, which was no easy feat. Finally, she'd let him in. And he'd nearly forgotten how incredible she was. It had been so long since he'd been with her that it had felt even more amazing than he remembered.

But then there was the matter of Ava. Last night, he'd awoken to find Emma's side of the bed empty and cold. Thinking that she'd just gone to the bathroom, he'd rolled over and closed his eyes. But they immediately flew open when he heard Ava's cries. He'd been about to race over to her; no doubt she'd just awoken from one of her usual heartbreaking nightmares and was in need of his comfort.

But then he'd heard Emma's voice. Her low, soothing murmurs as she spoke to the little girl that she didn't know was her daughter. Curiosity got the better of him and he'd sat outside in the hall, listening in.

The way Emma spoke about Ava's mother,  _herself_ , was both amusing and heartbreaking. It was pretty comical to sit and listen to her talk about someone who was actually herself. And yet it was horrendously sad. When she realized that she'd done the unthinkable: abandon her child he knew that she immediately overlook her memory loss and be struck with a bone crushing guilt. She'd blame herself and close herself off, withdrawing from everyone.

Hook watched as Ava snuggled closer to Emma, as Emma unconsciously placed an arm around her, as a little sigh of happiness escaped Ava's lips. They were both  _so_ happy. What was going to happen when the truth came out?

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Emma begin to stir. "Hey." She opened an eye.

"Morning." He responded lazily, trying to push his worries to the back of his mind. They were together. At last. That was all that mattered for now.

Emma raised an eyebrow in surprise. "How did Ava get here?"

"I know just as much as you do, darling." He replied. "But she does like to do this. Or rather, she did before...you know."

"Ah." She nodded. "Right."

Ava's brow creased as she woke up, stretching her little arms out, nearly hitting Hook in the jaw but he shifted away just in time. Several times Ava's fists had actually succeeded in making contact and she packed a pretty mean punch. Probably got it from Emma. Hook liked to joke that his jaw was still bruised from where Emma had punched him during their battle at Lake Nostos.

"Hi." She said brightly. If she wondered why her dad and Emma were sleeping in the same bed she didn't question it.

"How'd you get in here?" Emma asked. "The bed's pretty high."

Ava shrugged sheepishly. "I like to climb."

"And you're bloody good at it." Hook added. He sat up and swung his daughter so she was sitting on his lap. "So, princess. What do you want to do today?"

"Go to the park!" She responded.

"Aw, I'm sorry." Emma said as she pulled back the blinds. "It's raining." Though raining would be an understatement. More like storming.

Ava's lip immediately began to quiver. "Raining?"

"But wait." Emma quickly interjected. "I have an even better idea. How would you like to bake cookies?"

"Isn't she a little young?" Hook asked.

"Not too young to sit on a stool and lick the spoon. So how bout it?"

"Ok." Ava's eyes widened. "Let's bake cookies."

"Great. Let me just go take a quick shower and we can start."

"Shall I join you?" Hook joked.

Emma stuck her tongue out playfully. "Not if we actually want to get around to the cookies."

Fifteen minutes later, Emma was digging in the kitchen for ingredients. "Damn-I mean crap." She swore as she opened the cupboards. "Looks like we're out of...just about everything you need to make cookies."

"Oh." Ava said, clearly disappointed as she sat at the kitchen table, digging into a large bowl of Froot Loops.

"Hey, it's cool. We can just go out and buy some." She lifted up the now empty box of cereal and frowned.

"No, it's fine. We can make cookies another time." Hook started to protest.

"I need more groceries anyway." Emma replied. "And besides. I want cookies too."

"Well, in that case. Guess it's time for a trip to the store."

* * *

Emma figured that shopping with a toddler would turn a simple task into an event, but she had no idea that Killian was just as childish as his daughter.

For the first fifteen minutes, he followed around patiently while she did her shopping, lifting things off the higher shelves when she couldn't reach them, saving her from having to awkwardly scale the shelves like she normally did.

But then he began to be more...difficult. It started with the cereal. She knew she had a sweet tooth, for her cupboard was more often than not filled with sugary cereals, her favorite being Froot Loops of course. On more than one occasion Mary Margaret had sighed and rolled her eyes at Emma's choice of breakfast food in that motherly way of hers. But once in a while Emma did like to buy whole grain cereals. She  _did_ want to live past 60.

But Killian didn't seem to understand the concept of being healthy. She pretended not to notice when he switched her Cheerios for Frosted Flakes. But when he started adding pints of Ben and Jerry, which she only really had occasionally, she had to draw the line.

"Killian!" She scolded after she caught him adding the third pint of ice cream. "What're you doing?"

He gave her a fake innocent look. "Why whatever do you mean?"

She placed her hands on her hips, pretending to be angry. "You're more childish than Ava."

He just shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about. But you really shouldn't buy so much ice cream, love. They do say that it is not healthy. Although I have no idea why. It is so bloody delicious."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say." But she did leave the ice cream in.

After that he kept a running commentary on everything he saw in the store. "Spam? Just what in seven hells is this? Some type of meat, I presume?

Emma walked over and plucked the can from his hand. "Um, well not exactly. I wouldn't really call it meat. Put it back. It's gross." Then she stopped. "Wait. Do you really not know what spam is?"

"No. And I'm glad I don't."

She just shook her head. "What rock have you been living under all this time? Earlier you didn't know what soymilk was either."

"The food in this world is weird."

"This world? Maybe you're the weird one."

"If weird means dashing, then yes."

Next were the doughnuts. There was a tug. "Emma can we get doughnuts?" Ava asked, pointing to the glass case.

"Um, I don't know. I think cookies are gonna be enough sugar for you today."

"Pwetty pweeze?" She pouted.

"Yeah." Killian added loudly. "Pwetty pweeze Emma?" He pouted as well, which she found both annoying and cute.

"Mature." She quipped. "You really are about five years old aren't you?"

In response, he just winked at her. "If we get doughnuts I'll be a good boy. I promise."

"Fine." She huffed. "Guess I could use a bear claw as well." As she reached for a box she saw Killian and Ava exchange a high five.

After three more detours in which Emma ended up with things she didn't really need, they were on their way back to the apartment, loaded down with bags. Killian held an impressive amount in his one hand.

"Just put them over there." Emma gestured at a spot by the fridge. "And I'll put everything away later."

"Nuh uh." He shook his head. "With your organizational skills? Let me arrange your supplies."

"All right." She responded, turning to Ava. "Ready for cookies?"

"You betcha!"

Emma laid out the ingredients on the counter and began to measure and pour. When there was the unmistakable crinkle of the bag of chocolate chips she looked up. "Ava!"

The little girl quickly slipped her hand out of the open bag. "Oops."

"Save some for the cookies, sweetie."

"Okay."

But then the bag crinkled again. Without looking up from the mixing bowl, Emma frowned. "Ava, I said to save the chocolate chips for the cookies."

"Wasn't me." She protested.

"What?" Emma looked up just in time to see Killian draw his hang back. "Hey!" She snatched the bag out of reach and slapped his hand.

He caught her hand and raised it to his lips, lightly brushing it over. "I guess you'll have to, um, punish me now won't you Swan?"

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Yeah. You're sleeping alone tonight."

His expression immediately turned into one of mock horror. "No. Anything but that!"

Emma just chuckled as she turned back to the bowl.

* * *

Later that night, as they snuggled together on the couch, passing back and forth a plate of freshly baked cookies, watching Peter Pan(what else?), it occurred to Emma how  _domestic_ this all seemed. Spending her Saturday night with her maybe boyfriend and his daughter, baking cookies, watching a movie. He'd cooked dinner again except this time she'd helped. They'd made tacos this time, and scarfed them down before deciding to watch the movie.

She cast a look at Killian, whose gaze was trained on the screen, where Captain Hook was talking with Tinkerbell. He turned and noticed her stare, and raised his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders.

_If this is what it would be like to be married to him, it wouldn't suck._

So this was her life now. Kids movies, cookies, and making dinner together. It wasn't bad. In fact it was pretty cozy. But she couldn't help but wonder how long her happiness would last.


End file.
